The Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition programme, through health promotion and nutrition education empowers women of reproductive age group, pregnant and breastfeeding women, with relevant knowledge and skills to achieve optimum nutrition for themselves pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy to ensure nutrient availability for the developing foetus (adequate nutrition is essential for optimal brain development at the prenatal period); promotion of early initiation of breastfeeding (within one hour of birth) and exclusive breastfeeding up to first six months of life and introduction of appropriate complementary feeding after the first six months of life up to the 2nd year; and thereafter, growth monitoring and promotion to ensure adequate growth and development and to detect early signs of malnutrition and manage appropriately.