THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA’S COMBINED REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS & INITIAL REPORT ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA The policy includes emerging issues in nutrition and related areas and the draft strategic plan (2011-2015) for the implementation of the revised National Nutrition Policy 2010-2020. A Business Plan to be used with the Strategic Plan to resource mobilization has also been developed with the assistance of the World Bank. Amongst the theme of the policy is improving maternal nutrition to improve nutritional status of women before, during and after pregnancy. This target was set as malnutrition still continues to be a major public health problem with the most vulnerable groups being women and children. It is evident that the majority of Gambian women, especially those living in rural areas are in a constant state of energy deficit due to poor dietary habits, heavy workload and frequent infections. Consequently, the prevalence of low birth weight (LBW) babies, maternal mortality and infant mortality are high. The policy also seeks to improve the care and nutritional status of the socio-economically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable groups, which includes women. As women in the country bear the primary responsibility of the family, the skills and abilities of the primary care giver, who is usually the mother, are crucial to the quality of care, particularly the selection and preparation of food for the family. The enactment of the Food Act, 2005 led to the –  promulgation of the Breastfeeding Promotion Regulations and the Food Fortification and Salt Iodisation Regulations; Revitalisation of the National Codex Committee, which is made up of Government and NonGovernmental Organizations concerned with food production, quality, safety and trade; • Coordination of the activities of the International Baby Food Action Network for the protection, promotion and support of optional Infant and Young Child Feeding practices; • Instituted mechanisms to reduce micro-nutrition deficiencies, namely, the salt iodisation and vitamin A supplementation programme as well as the intensification of IEC promoting Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) control; • Design and implementation of the Baby Friendly Hospital and Community Initiatives for the prevention and management of infant, young child and maternal nutrition. In Baby Friendly communities, Village Support Groups play a key role in transmitting messages and providing support to mothers on practices of infant feeding. In these communities, there is early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour. The result has been healthier children and women in such communities. 158