Foreign Affairs committee  The Micronutrient Initiative has been in operation for about 20 years. UNICEF, when it announced its reduced child mortality rates in September 2009, stated that child mortality rates dropped from 12.5 million in 1990 to about 8.8 million now. The Lancet put out a further review

Foreign Affairs committee  We believe that Canada's strong support, through the Canadian taxpayers, has made a significant difference in reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. There is also a millennium development goal for universal primary education. If a child has access to proper nutri

Foreign Affairs committee  It goes beyond these two millennium development goals.

Foreign Affairs committee  We're primarily funded by CIDA. We've enjoyed strong CIDA support for almost 20 years. We also have smaller grants from our partners in the UN system and also from some private foundations. Because the Micronutrient Initiative also works to fortify food with micronutrients, at ti

Foreign Affairs committee  Micronutrients aren't one single intervention. In the case of diarrheal disease, there is the provision of zinc supplements, about a 10-day course of them. Every child who has diarrheal disease won't be saved, but there's about a 20% mortality reduction when a child receives zinc

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much to the members for having us today. The Micronutrient Initiative is a Canadian-based development organization focusing on the delivery of micronutrients, which are vitamins and minerals needed in only small quantities, and the delivery of nutrition health pro