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For Iraq, school meals can be a quiet step for peace and progress.

School Feeding to Start in Iraq

Last year I wrote an article about the need for school feeding to help impoverished children in Iraq. The United Nations World Food Programme recommended that Food for Education become a priority, especially in the poorer districts of the country.

Now that is set to happen. The World Food programme is scheduled to begin school feeding for Iraqi children on Monday, November 16th. WFP describes this as a pilot program for 170,000 Iraqi children in eight extremely food insecure districts. The program was originally scheduled to begin at the end of September but there were unfortunate delays in obtaining and then transporting the food into Iraq. 


WFP photo from previous school feeding program in Iraq

Once this program gets underway it will be a valuable help to Iraqi families. Ensuring food for children at school boosts not only their nutrition but also classroom attendance and performance. 

The key will be sustaining and also expanding school feeding within Iraq. WFP had run school feeding in the country during 2006 but the program was suspended. The WFP, the Iraqi government, and the international community can work together to build a strong school feeding program for the country. For Iraq, school meals can be a quiet step for peace and progress.

About William Lambers

William Lambers is the author of several books including Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World. This book features over 50 interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme and other charities discussing school feeding programs that fight child hunger. He is also the author of Nuclear Weapons, The Road to Peace: From the Disarming of the Great Lakes to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Open Skies for Peace, The Spirit of the Marshall Plan: Taking Action Against World Hunger, School Lunches for Kids Around the World, The Roadmap to End Global Hunger, From War to Peace and the Battle of Britain. He is also a writer for the History News Service. His articles have been published by newspapers including the Cincinnati Enquirer, Des Moines Register, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Buffalo News, San Diego Union Tribune, the Providence Journal, Free Lance-Star (VA), the Bakersfield Californian, the Washington Post, Miami Herald (FL), Chicago Sun-Times, the Patriot Ledger (MA), Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail (WV), the Cincinnati Post, Salt Lake Tribune (UT), North Adams Transcript (MA), Wichita Eagle (KS), Monterey Herald (CA), Athens Banner-Herald (GA) and the Duluth News Journal. His articles also appear on History News Network (HNN) and Think Africa Press. Mr. Lambers is a graduate of the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio with degrees in Liberal Arts (BA) and Organizational Leadership (MS). He is also a member of the Feeding America Blogger Council.

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