Ben Enos (Northwestern University), Claire Fisher (Northwestern University), Kevin Ingram (Northwestern University), David Kohan-Ghadosh (Northwestern University), Developing a Maternal Nutrition Education Program in Mauritania in Partnership with the Sahel Foundation (2023):
While Mauritania officially criminalized slavery and slavery-like practices in 2015, slave ownership is deeply-rooted in Mauritanian society and has far-reaching effects on nutritional outcomes for Haratins, the historically enslaved population. Ongoing de facto slavery and other related factors contribute to malnutrition in Mauritania, including structural violence such as poverty and discrimination, as well as climate change, desertification, over-fishing, and lack of access to potable water. Despite several inter-governmental nutritional interventions aimed at the broader Mauritanian population, very little data exists focusing on the specific nutritional needs of Haratin children. As part of the Northwestern Access to Health (ATH) Project, the authors designed a public health intervention in partnership with the Sahel Foundation, a Mauritanian community-based organization fighting discrimination against Haratins, with the goal of addressing malnutrition of young Haratin children by focusing on maternal education workshops. The intervention proposes a pilot program using Training of Trainers (ToT) and culturally-sensitive teach-back models that will allow the Sahel Foundation to leverage existing programs to reach Haratin pregnant and breastfeeding women in rural villages.