The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Odisha Government have signed a pact to work on improving household food and nutritional security by strengthening livelihood initiatives, reaching thousands of State-supported Women’s Self-Help Groups (WSHGs).
“This is a significant partnership for achieving nutritional security in Odisha focussed on empowerment, livelihood and incomes of women,” said WFP Country Director in India Bishow Parajuli. “Such focussed initiatives are important to address and reduce vulnerabilities around food security as highlighted by Covd-19 pandemic,” he added.
The agreement has been signed between Parajuli and State Department of Mission Shakti Secretary Sujata R Karthikeyan at a virtual ceremony. “Sustainable livelihoods lead to improved household food and nutritional security and ultimately result in holistic empowerment of women This collaboration will support WSHGs by providing technical assistance and capacity development, directly contributing to long-term food security and developing a replicable model,” said Karthikeyan.
“Working with SHGs to create livelihood opportunities, improving household nutritional security and increasing women’s participation in decision making are some of the core objectives for the Department of Mission Shakti,” she added.
The partnership, effective till December 2023, would also focus on improving linkage of women groups with Government procurement systems, increasing awareness on entitlements, building capacity of women’s groups and developing monitoring tools and undertaking evaluations to improve function of groups.