The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) helps fight hunger and poverty in Egypt. School feeding programs are especially critical for most vulnerable children. We will learn more about these programs in the following interview with GianPietro Bordignon, WFP Country Director in Egypt.
How many children are benefiting from the WFP school feeding programs within the country?
The WFP’s Food-For-Education (FFE) activity presently feeds over 84,000 children in the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Egypt; the aim is to have reached 241,000 by the end of the current Country Program 2007-2011. The children receive nutritious fortified snacks during the school day to supply them with nutrients essential to their development and concentration ability. This is in addition to over 106,000 family members who benefit from take-home rations (THRs) which act as an incentive for families to send and keep children at school. WFP distributes take-home rations primarily to families of girls on condition that the families agree upon providing the child with the basic education she needs.
Moreover, WFP provides targeted food support for single-classroom community schools that are designed to reintegrate dropouts into the education system. This is in addition to primary schools and pre-schools in selected food insecure and vulnerable governorates.
Discuss what effect the meals have on the children in terms of school attendance, performance and nutrition
Distribution is tied to regular attendance. Students receiving school meals offered by WFP and the Government of Egypt (GoE) must have achieved an attendance rate over 90%. Furthermore, as a result of WFP assistance, both in-school meals and take-home rations are fortified with essential nutrients that improve children's performance and ability to concentrate.
What plans are there for making school lunches available for all children?
The Government of Egypt distributes snacks to primary students all over the country. It reaches over 12 million students annually with an investment of LE 354 million (US $62 million). WFP technical support enables the Ministry of Education to strengthen the design of its program and its targeting methods and improves the nutritional composition of food items offered. WFP also supports the Government of Egypt in establishing monitoring and reporting systems. Thanks to WFP policy advocacy, during the 2007/08 school year the Government of Egypt increased the annual funding allocation by LE 100 million ($18.9 million). This additional budgetary allocation will be made available over the next five years to the school feeding program budget and is reserved to the most vulnerable governorates as per WFP recommendation. It is planned that the ongoing reform process of the National School Feeding Program, as supported by WFP and other partners, should reach a sustainable mechanism of providing fortified school meals to all children.
What would be the sources of funding for any expansion of the school feeding program?
WFP has traditionally relied on multilateral sources and directed bilateral funds to support its school feeding program. A considerable funding amount of $7.5 million was obtained under the Egyptian-Italian Debt-for-Development Swap agreement from 2003-2007, reaching a total of 225,000 primary school children. More recently, contributions from local private companies and foundations have been obtained. WFP continues to rely on all these sources to maintain the required support to its beneficiaries. This funding also helps extend the school feeding program to include the increasing number of families and their children now under threat of falling below the poverty line, who have been exposed to “hidden”’ hunger (or lack of essential micronutrients, minerals and vitamins, in their diet) as a result of the recent high food prices.
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