South Africa faces a triple burden of child malnutrition: undernutrition (stunting), micronutrient deficiencies and being overweight.
A COALITION of health, child welfare and anti-poverty organisations is urging the government to fund a proposed Maternal Support Grant (MSG), arguing that supporting women during pregnancy could play an important role in South Africa's mission to end childhood stunting.
The call comes ahead of a key budget planning deadline on Friday, when government departments submit funding priorities for consideration in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement later this year.
The appeal is being led by the MSG Advocacy Coalition, a collective of non-governmental organisations and researchers that includes Embrace, the Children's Institute, DG Murray Trust, Ilifa Labantwana, Grow Great, Hold My Hand, Amandla.mobi, the Legal Resources Centre, the Institute for Economic Justice and researchers from the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
The coalition argues that pregnancy is a critical gap in South Africa's social protection system, particularly for women living in poverty who are unemployed, informally employed or excluded from maternity benefits through the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
