WFP celebrates international school meal days in Armenia
YEREVAN – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Armenia today celebrated School Meals Day with its partners, the Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute (SIFI) and the School Feeding and Child Welfare Agency. The event at Abovyan school No 8 brought together school children of primary grades and their parents in Abovyan city of Kotayk province.
WFP has been implementing school feeding in Armenia since 2012, providing over 100,000 schoolchildren with hot, nutritious meals every day.
The event highlighted the activities of WFP’s school feeding programme in Armenia. Children and their parents participated in flash mobs and games designed to acquaint them with the harmful effects of an unhealthy diet and the importance of balanced, nutritious meals.
“Today, we celebrate our joint achievements of the School Meals Programme and raise awareness of nutritious school meals and their importance to our children’s health,” said the Headmaster of Abovyan school No 8 Lusine Baghdasaryan. “School meals have had a transformational role in children’s wellbeing and have already helped in improving their dietary habits. I would like to thank all supporters, including WFP, the Government, parents and our community who united their efforts and invested in our children's development.”
“School meals are critical for children’s wellbeing and improving learning abilities to reach their full potential; eventually enhancing their productivity as adults contributing to their country’s economic development,” said WFP Deputy Country Director and Officer-in-Charge Nanna Skau. “Thanks to the successful partnership with the Government of Armenia, School Meals has become a flagship programme ultimately contributing to food security of children across the country.”
Also, as part of celebrating International School Meals Day in Armenia, WFP and partners will invite all parents with their primary grades school children to participate in an online quest that will be followed by an award ceremony for the winners.
Abovyan No 8 school is among other 89 schools in Kotayk province that is part of WFP’s School Feeding Programme, which is expected to join the National School Feeding programme in December 2022. The management of the School Feeding Programme has been already gradually handed over to the government in eight provinces of Armenia making the programme more sustainable for the years to come. As a result of a successful nationalization, the Government of Armenia has recently signed the declaration of commitment and joined the global School Meals Coalition.
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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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