Did you know that Asia is home to close to 578 million of the 1 billion malnourished people around the world? And that nearly 100 million of the 165 million children globally who are stunted are Asian? The hard truth is that poor nutritional practices place an enormous burden on Asia as a whole, diminishing the potential of individuals, societies and economies.
In order to change this, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), along with partners World Vision, DSM, Global Alliance for Improving Nutrition (GAIN) and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), have just launched the “One Goal” campaign.
Aiming to provide nutrition for every child in Asia through the power of and the passion for football in the region, the ‘One Goal’ campaign seeks to tackle the poor nutritional practices and access that have been holding back Asia and Asian football.
According to Trihadi Saptoadi, Regional Leader of World Vision – South Asia and Pacific Regional office, the vision of the One Goal campaign is to unite a diverse range of audiences under the banner of football and serve them messages about good nutrition, especially for children. “We are looking to ignite a social movement that will transform child nutrition in the region, helping more children survive and thrive.”
The campaign will seek to transform child nutrition in the Asian region by engaging players, fans and football lovers to become ambassadors for good nutritional practices and engage and encourage governments to invest more in helping children to access nutritious foods so they can grow up strong and reach their fullest potential.
“For children across Asia to eat, live and play right, we must ensure that their right to nutrition is recognized and defended – by us all,” said DSM’s Managing Board Member Stephan Tanda. “Together, the partners of One Goal are uniting to leverage their expertise, resources and reach so that we can tackle undernutrition – the root cause of stunting – head-on.”
FIFA Vice President and Co-Chair of the One Goal board, HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein urges all football lovers across Asia to come and be part of the One Goal campaign to put an end to malnutrition among children.
To learn more about the campaign and become part of transforming nutrition in Asia, visit onegoal.asia
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