The World Food Program (WFP) congratulated Bangladesh on joining the global school meals coalition.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Primary and Mass Education Ministry Secretary Farid Ahmed made the announcement on Tuesday at the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment opening in Rome, reads a press release.
Since 2010, Bangladesh has been investing in the national school feeding program, with WFP as a key partner.
More than 3 million children in 104 sub-districts had been reached with fortified biscuits, and in some locations, hot meals by 2022. Study shows that the programme resulted in a 4.2% increase in school enrolment and a 7.5% reduction in dropouts.
“School feeding is more than food to the children. It is a systemic solution to combat child hunger and nutrition, but also supports the local economy through improving opportunities for small farmers and local entrepreneurs,” Momen said.
Building on the success of the past programs, the new school feeding program aims to reach 3.5 million students of 20,000 government primary schools over the next three years.
Courtesy“In the next program we are planning to shift from fortified biscuits only to a diversified food menu. It will include seasonal fruits, egg, bread bun and milk during a week. We will pilot hot meals in some poorer districts. Diversification will help us to achieve nutritional outcomes,” the minister added on the government's plan for the new national school feeding program.
“WFP is fully committed to continuing supporting the Government of Bangladesh to make school meals available to all targeted children, particularly those from poor and remote areas,” WFP Representative and Country Director in Bangladesh Domenico Scalpelli said.
“We congratulate Bangladesh for joining the global school meals coalition and investing in school meals to secure a brighter future for the children of Bangladesh,” he added.
The school meals coalition is an emerging initiative of governments and a wide range of partners to drive actions that can urgently re-establish, improve and scale up food and education systems, support pandemic recovery, and drive actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, more than 80 countries are members of the coalition.
