FEICOM, Helen Keller Int’l evaluate projects, new deals.

This was the focus of a recent meeting between FEICOM’s Director General, DG,Philippe Camille Akoa and Helen Keller International's Regional Director for East, South and Central Africa, Volkan Cakir. 

The visiting Helen Keller International official was received at FEICOM’s head office in Yaounde.

Volkan Cakir, who was on an official mission to Cameroon, was accompanied during the meeting by the Country Director of Helen Keller International, Mba Robert.

According to FEICOM’s DG, discussions focused on current activities carried out by both institutions, with regard to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, for the setting up of a nutrition programme. The FEICOM Director General, also said he and Volkan discussed prospects for 2024.

According to the FEICOM boss, with regards to the nutrition programme, some 71 municipalities; comprising City Councils and Councils, responded to calls for applications for 87 initiatives. 

13 nutrition-sensitive projects, Camille Akoa said, were selected after evaluation. 

The projects, he underscored, were for the 2023 fiscal year. Each region, he said, benefitted from one project with the exception of the Far North Region, that received three grants, given its high participation rate.

Officials immortalize moment in picture

According to Camille Akoa, for the 2024 financial year, under the same programme, 20 other council initiatives have been selected, with the aim of involving a greater number of them in nutrition and local development related issues.

To support these actions, he added that FEICOM intends to set up a Nutrition, Health and Well-being Unit, with precise objectives. 

The goal, he restated, is to better address the issue and reflect the organisation's commitment and determination to support local councils in the fight against malnutrition in all its forms.

Another meeting, he said, has been scheduled to hold in the coming days for parties to draw up by mutual agreement, an annual work plan for 2024. 

The work guide, according to the FEICOM boss, will help guide actions and enable them assess themselves.

They equally discussed on the possibility of pursuing studies and bench-marking with specialised institutions in the field, with a view to financing high-impact nutritional interventions to combat nutrition-related diseases.