WFP expands its support to the national school feeding programme in Ukraine

In the last academic year, WFP and the Ministry of Education and Science signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation on the implementation of the school feeding programme. During this first phase of the programme, WFP supported the preparation of meals for 12,000 children in 58 schools in Kyiv oblast. Thanks to generous funding from the Government of France and private donors, WFP was able to expand the programme across the country this year.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, WFP will fund 30% of the daily hot meals for children in schools in Kyiv, Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Poltava oblasts. Schools will utilize the funds received through the programme to improve the quality of the meals or to reduce the fee paid by parents to the canteen.

Oblasts were selected on a range of criteria, including food security level, as well as the number of internally displaced persons. 

WFP operates within the framework of the Government’s School Nutrition Reform, in close coordination with the Ministry of Education and Science, oblast and hromada authorities and the schools. 

“Many children in Ukraine are resuming in-person learning in war-affected regions,” said WFP Country Director in Ukraine Matthew Hollingworth. “We are fully committed to supporting them, their parents and their schools by funding daily meals to keep them healthy and focused, as well as relieve some pressure on their families’ budgets.”

"In wartime, it is critically important for us adults to take care of children's well-being. And providing daily hot meals is one of the ways to support them. We are grateful to the UN World Food Programme for the systematic support of Ukrainian children and a significant contribution to their healthy future," said Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Andrii Stashkiv.

France, whose funding enabled the expansion of the school feeding programme, recently hosted the first global summit of the School Meals Coalition, which strives to ensure every child receives school meals by 2030.

School feeding is one of many ways WFP supports Ukrainians affected by the war. WFP also distributes food parcels in areas closest to the frontline, where food is hard to find or very expensive, as well as cash assistance to displaced and vulnerable Ukrainians across the country. WFP is also supporting the safe release of mined agricultural land in the Kharkiv region to help farmers and food producers resume work.

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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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