Africa: Invest in Girls’ Health to Compete in the Digital Future – World Bank Head

By Emma Batha
Copenhagen — Childhood stunting, which impairs cognitive ability, is a “great unrecognised disaster happening now” – Jim Yong Kim

Countries which fail to invest in young women’s health will be left behind because the underdeveloped brains of their children will not be equipped to compete in an increasingly complex, digital world, the head of the World Bank said on Wednesday.

Jim Yong Kim said childhood stunting, which impairs cognitive ability, was a “great unrecognised disaster happening in the world right now”.

He said when finance ministers approach the World Bank for loans they say they are not going to use the money for women and children, but for hard infrastructure like roads and energy.

“What we are now telling them is look to the future … it is digital, digital, digital. The most important infrastructure you can invest in could be grey matter infrastructure … and it starts with a healthy girl,” Kim told Women Deliver, a major women’s health and rights conference.
He said a quarter of children worldwide were stunted, 32 percent in India and 45 percent in Pakistan.

Health experts say the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life from conception are critical for physical and mental development.

Women who delay pregnancy, space their births and receive proper nutrition and healthcare before, during and after pregnancy are more likely to have healthier, stronger children.

Kim said brain scans showed that young children who don’t have sufficient nutrition or stimulation in their early years have fewer neural connections which impacts their cognitive potential.

“For every country in the world looking at a future that’s going to … require huge amounts of digital competence we are now saying to these governments how are you going to walk into the future with 45 percent stunting.source: allafrica.com