School meals take centre in Pakistan with multi-stakeholder consultation

This consultation was attended by Ms. Wajiha Qamar, Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training along with representatives from various federal and provincial departments including education, health, planning and development & social protection. Representatives from development agencies, private sector, academia and non-governmental organisations also participated in the event, unified by a shared goal: to ensure every child in Pakistan has access to healthy, nutritious food at school.

 “With 25 million children out of school and many enrolled students struggling to learn due to hunger and malnutrition, the reality demands urgent action,” said Mr. Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan. “By alleviating poverty-related barriers to education, the provision of meals encourages parents to send their children to school, reducing dropout rates and promoting gender equality.”

The consultation concluded with a clear demonstration of political will from federal and provincial government representatives to expand school meals across Pakistan. The discussions were substantive and action-oriented, reflecting a growing national consensus that school meals are not standalone initiatives, but a strategic, multisectoral investment central to the country’s development agenda.

The Government of Balochistan committed significant multiyear budget to be confirmed shortly and presented a detailed action plan, including support for children with special needs. Punjab pledged to expand school meals to more districts, while Sindh reaffirmed plans to launch a new school meals programme. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa committed to strengthening its cash-based model and exploring a school meals programme. Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir are also working to expand, exploring innovative financing solutions.

Ms. Wajiha Qamar, Minister of State, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, also addressed the consultation, affirming the government’s commitment to institutionalising school meals as part of the broader education agenda. “We must scale up programmes nationwide, learn from each other’s experiences and good practises to ensure that every child in Pakistan has access to a daily meal at school. This is not just a programme or a project, it is an investment in our children, our communities and our country’s prosperous future,” she added.

 “Not only did this consultation reaffirm that school meals are a powerful, transformative tool to bring children to school, keep them there, and give them a fair chance to learn, grow, and succeed - it also helped secure concrete commitments from provincial and federal representatives for the next five years” said Coco Ushiyama, WFP Representative and Country Director in Pakistan.

Investing in school meals is especially critical in the context of Pakistan. School meals offer a powerful, multi-sectoral solution, improving children’s nutrition and health, increasing school attendance, enhancing learning outcomes and easing the financial burden on low-income families. These efforts align closely with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s declaration of an education emergency last year and the urgent national priority to bring every out-of-school child into the classroom.

This event builds on the first national consultation held in 2022, which followed Pakistan’s signing of the Global School Meals Coalition in 2021. It also serves as a key preparatory milestone ahead of the Global School Meals Summit in Brazil this September. 

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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