The government has appointed Nepali national cricket team captain Paras Khadka as the Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition, Food Security & Golden 1,000 Days Awareness Campaign.

Dr Yubraj Khatiwada, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, handed over the certificate of accreditation to Khadka at a function on Thursday. As the goodwill ambassador, Khadka will promote the importance nutritional care for children for 1,000 days after birth. 

Health experts believe that failure to ensure proper nutrition in this period will have a long-lasting impact on the health of children. 

The NPC, Ministry of Health and development partners including the European Union (EU) and Unicef are also planning to conduct a nationwide campaign on creating awareness on nutrition in household levels. 

Dr Khatiwada said that reducing under-nutrition in children and women is important for Nepal to graduate from Least Developed Countries by 2022. 

Prioritising the first 1,000 days for newborns and children is a part of the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan (MSNP) of the government that aims to decrease the maternal and child under-nutrition status in Nepal. The government has identified 28 districts for scaling up of the MSNP where children are undernourished. These districts include Bajhang, Bajura, Dolpa, Humla, Jumla,Kalikot, and Mugu in the mountainous region; Achham, Baitadi,  Dadeldhura, Dailekh, Doti, Jajarkot, Khotang, Panchthar, Rolpa, Rukum and Udayapur in the hilly region; and Bara, Bardiya, Dhanusha, Kapilvastu, Mahottari, Nawalparasi, Parsa,  Rautahat, Saptari and Sarlahi in the Tarai.