WFP and Ukraine renew school meals partnership after 40 million meals served in frontline regions

In the new school year, WFP will continue supporting primary schools in eight frontline regions and expand the programme to 90 kindergartens in Chernihiv oblast, reaching an additional 4,000 children.

The WFP programme helps to advance the School Nutrition Reform efforts initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska. It supports 2,500 schools in eight regions: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Through this programme, WFP enables schools to provide meals free of charge and to enhance their nutritional quality in line with the standards set by the School Nutrition Reform.

“For Ukraine, safe and high-quality education remains one of the country's key national priorities. Despite the full-scale war, we have ensured the continuity of learning and continue to implement transformative reforms across all levels of education. An important part of these efforts is the modernization of the school meals system,” said Yevhen Kudriavets, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. “We are grateful to all our international partners, particularly the UN World Food Programme, for supporting this work, which helps ensure that Ukrainian children have access to nutritious meals and a comfortable learning environment despite the ongoing war.”

“Schools are havens for children who are displaced and traumatized by war,” said Richard Ragan, WFP Country Director in Ukraine. “All of them have ambitions, dreams and aspirations to contribute to their country’s future. There is no better investment in Ukraine’s recovery than to feed and teach an entire generation of children growing up in wartime.”

As part of the programme, WFP also provided modern, energy-efficient kitchen equipment such as electric stoves, combi steam ovens and food boilers to 298 schools. A further 79 schools received fuel cards for generators and transport to keep their kitchens running during power outages at the peak of the winter season.

Beyond direct assistance, WFP is working with the Government to train school cooks to prepare healthy, balanced meals and operate modern equipment. The training sessions for 1,200 participants are planned between July and November 2026.

The programme was made possible with the support of the governments of France, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland, as well as the Bestseller Foundation.