Bogota, September 10, 2024. In order to contribute to food security and reduce child malnutrition in Bogota, last April the president of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Ovidio Claros Polanco, and the First Lady of the District, Carolina Deik, launched phase 1 of the pilot program “Mission Nutrition Bogota” in the town of Kennedy.

After the satisfactory results with more than 18.5 tons of food distributed free of charge, which have benefited 1080 children in Kennedy, now it is the turn of the Suba district, which has five of the neighborhoods with the highest levels of malnutrition, after Kennedy. This is the most populated area of the city, with about 1,350,000 inhabitants (14.3% of the city's population). According to figures from the District Secretariat of Social Integration, by 2021, more than 12,000 children between the ages of 0 and 13 were living in extreme poverty.

The beneficiaries in Suba will be close to 1,000 children from 10 foundations such as: Fundación Juntos de la Mano por una Colombia Mejor; Fundación Dando con el Corazón; Fundación Social La Tía Loren; Fundación Búsqueda y Rescate; Fundación por un Mañana Mejor; Fundación Colombia Chiquita; Fundación la Luz del Mundo; Fundación una Tierra Feliz en Monte de Sion; Fundación Misioneros Divina Redención - Fundir; Asociación Barranquillera de Caridad ABC - AMMA. And as a novelty, besides having more allies (Kellogs and Bimbo, among others), Phase 2 comes with a Technical Health Board, integrated by Fundación Santa Fe, Javesalud and Droguerías Dr Simi.

According to figures from the commercial registry of the CCB, the Suba district, known for its important commercial activity, has more than 2,000 potential food donor companies in neighborhoods with high malnutrition. In particular, in the five prioritized neighborhoods there are 877 companies and only one community kitchen.

The collaboration scheme proposed by Misión Nutrición Bogotá promotes the activation of sustainable logistic solutions for the collection and redistribution of food surpluses, encouraging nutritional education, fighting hunger and promoting responsible consumption practices in Bogotá.

The work that has been carried out is based on the principle of complementarity to promote schemes that add to existing programs in this area, such as Community Kitchens, School Feeding Programs (PAE), ICBF Community Homes and the actions of the Food Bank, among others.

The First Lady, the CCB and the Red Cross, as well as their allies, invite the community in general, individuals and companies, to visit the link https://www.cruzrojabogota.org.co/mision-nutricion-bogota and activate their cash donations so that through the recognized operation of the Red Cross in Bogota and Cundinamarca, these foundations in Suba can be supplied with more and better food for the care and good nutrition of the children they represent.

The Needs

Ovidio Claros, president of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, stated that “At the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, we are strongly committed to combating child malnutrition in Bogota, which is why this year we created the Food Security Cluster Initiative. In particular, from this Cluster we want to strengthen the operating models of these foundations to achieve their sustainability and impact in the medium and long term, not only with access to food and other elements they require, but also with specialized technical support to adjust their management. Suba, due to the large number of people living in this locality and its nutritional needs, is our second bet in this pilot plan. We invite other entities to join this effort to benefit more and more children”.

“Misión Nutrición Bogotá is already a reality, which counts not only with the active participation of the food industry and chain stores, but also with logistical allies such as Rappi, DidiFood and Red Cross, without which we would not have how to distribute so many tons of food for free and effectively among the children of the allied foundations. And thanks to the results, now the allies of the Technical Board of Health (Santa Fe Foundation, Javesalud and Droguerías Dr Simi) have also arrived to provide psychosocial support and nutritional counseling,” said Carolina Deik, First Lady of the District.

We invite the business sector, entrepreneurs and individuals to donate through our website www.cruzrojabogota.org.co, there you will find the official and authorized channel to receive donations or you can donate by transfer to our Bancolombia Savings account # 0480000385”, concluded Gabriel Camero, president of the Red Cross Bogota.

The figures

According to the latest report of the World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations, in February 2024, Bogota recorded about 1.5 million people in a condition of food insecurity, being the localities of Kennedy (6), Suba (5), Bosa (2) and Fontibon (2) those with the highest levels of malnutrition, with 15 neighborhoods that have levels above 15% of child malnutrition.