The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is doing its part to support the peace process in Mindanao, the southern Muslim-populated region of the Philippines. In Mindanao many people have been displaced by the conflict between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Malnutrition rates are also high in the area, which makes school feeding for children absolutely critical. We will learn more about the UN's Food for Education initiative in the following interview with Stephen Anderson of the World Food Programme in the Philippines.
How many children are benefiting from the WFP School feeding programs within the country?
WFP targets school feeding assistance to 120,000 vulnerable schoolchildren living in areas in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, where conflict between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has displaced large numbers of people and also resulted in high rates of malnutrition. About 110,000 children also receive a monthly 12.5 kilo (27.5 lbs) take-home ration of rice for the full academic year (and when one includes the schoolchildren’s family members, this rice supports a total of 660,000 people). WFP support acts as a supplement to a family’s food supply and as an incentive to keep their children in school.
Consistent with WFP’s "Fill the Cup" campaign (and financed directly through local and/or private sector support), WFP is also providing a daily hot meal, consisting of nutritious corn-soya blend, which is combined with sugar and oil, and supplemented by vegetables and other ingredients provided by the community, to an additional 10,000 school children in selected schools, again focusing on the most nutritionally deprived areas. Children receive de-worming twice a year and WFP encourages investments by government, bilateral, and multilateral donors to upgrade water and sanitation systems and other school infrastructure.
Discuss what effect the meals have on the children in terms of school attendance, performance and nutrition.
Primarily as a result of conflict and poverty, only one in three children in Mindanao actually complete primary school, which is far below the 67 percent average for the rest of the country: some 40 percent of parents who do not send their children to school cite lack of food as a contributing factor.
During the past two years, food support has had a remarkable effect. At assisted schools, WFP food support has increased enrollment by 40 percent, stabilized attendance and, most importantly, virtually eliminated school drop-outs. When children drop out of school, more often than not for economic reasons to help their family, they rarely re-enroll. WFP is therefore proud of its contribution in helping to keep these children in school.
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Article comments
1 - Glenn Contrarian
William -
It's a pity no one else has replied here. Good article.
I have a house and a business in the Philippines and I intend to retire there. I must admit that - at least on Luzon - I feel just as much freedom there as here in America.
My wife and I intend - if our business here in America is successful - to open a charity in Metro Manila, concentrating on education for the children and free midwife services for prospective mothers. Wish us luck!