By Awa Macalo
The National Nutrition Agency NaNA has named three of its conference halls after great founders and legends in recognition of their excellent service and duty towards the establishment of the Agency and shaping the food and nutrition landscape in The Gambia.
Giving a citation on Mrs Isatou Jallow, Modou Cheyassin Phall, the former executive director at NaNA,. said Mrs Jallow was a committed civil servant who has done tremendously well during her service at the agency as former coordinator for nutrition in the 90s.
“To be quite honest, when she was joining the team, we were just learning what protein, carbohydrates are but not drilled in the field of nutrition and its policies. Mrs Isatou played a pivotal rule in bringing sectors like Agriculture and NGOs together for an excellent nutrition policy in the Gambia. She was so focused and knows what exactly she wanted. With the help of people who have an idea on the development of nutrition policy, we were able to come up with a draft policy, within weeks and it was reviewed and adopted as the 2000 to 2004 nutrition policy. Nutrition was sidelined but with her efforts and determination, she was also to strive and get to where we are today,” he said.
Mrs Isatou Jallow was honored as the leading staff whose service brought a bigger achievement to NaNA since its inception as the first Executive Director from 2000 to 2006.
Dr Amat Bah, the current executive director expressed that since the establishment of the agency, countless successes had been achieved and the country’s nutritional policy was put in place.
“NaNA has become a household name not only in the country but globally, the achievement has culminated in the reduction of the prevalence of malnutrition the country has experienced and currently, the rate of anaemia, stunting, wasting and underweight, have significantly improved compared to when NaNA was not established, and the contribution of the three people that the halls are being named after did not go unnoticed,” Bah said.
