Every individual should be provided with access to a nourishing meal; this is a fundamental human right necessary for leading a healthy life, particularly for children who need adequate nutrients to grow physically and mentally.
Unfortunately, in some parts of the world, particularly Africa, many children do not have access to adequate food or healthy meals, posing a significant challenge that requires the attention of governments, policymakers, and stakeholders charged with improving children’s quality of life and education.
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This is being discussed at the official launch of the Eastern Africa Regional School Meals Coalition Network, hosted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in Kigali from June 26-27.
The purpose of the Regional School Meals Coalition Network is to create an opportunity for participating countries to engage in peer-to-peer learning and experience sharing, and pursue joint advocacy efforts for various key aspects of school meal programmes.
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This initiative aims to ensure that children have access to healthy meals, which positively impact their enrollment, participation, and overall learning experience.
Several countries in the region such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda have already expressed interest in joining the global initiative to give every child in need the opportunity to receive a nutritious meal at school by 2030.
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In Rwanda, the government has taken a leadership role in promoting sustainable school meal programmes, emphasising the human capital agenda. The WFP’s home-grown school feeding programme has provided nutritious meals to children in more than seven districts so far, promoting their education, health, and sanitation. The goal of the programme is to ensure that every child receives a healthy meal every day by 2030.
The Rwandan government has committed to universal school meal coverage and has increased its budget for the national school feeding programme from Rwf40 million in 2021 to over Rwf78 billion in 2022-2023 school year and is expected to raise up to more over Rwf 90 billion in upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
As a result, between 3.8 and 4 million children from pre-primary, primary, and secondary levels are now able to benefit from the school feeding programme. Nonetheless, the national school feeding programme still faces budget constraints, even if the country continues to find ways to reduce parental contributions and implement tax reductions on rice and maize to reduce the cost of school meals.
Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, Gaspard Twagirayezu, appreciated the idea of holding the network launch in Rwanda.
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"This should serve as an excellent opportunity for our respective countries to share information that can lead to more effective and sustainable school feeding initiatives and inspire new initiatives that will positively impact the lives of millions of schoolchildren,” he said.
Ahmareen Karim, WFP Rwanda’s Acting Country Director, stressed that school feeding may be a game changer for developing countries’ futures by promoting human capital development and creating a powerful platform to build sustainable food systems.
She also commended Rwanda’s government for its commitment to expanding school meals through the National School meals Programme (NSFP) and hosting the Regional School Meals Coalition Network.
The Global School Meals Coalition was launched at the UN Summit on Food Systems in September 2021. It is led by France and Finland and brings together over 82 countries as well as 90 partners, including UN agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and academic partners.
The regional network will also help to pursue joint advocacy efforts for various key aspects related to school meal programmes, such as sustainable financing plans and filling existing research gaps.