UN food agency praises Sudanese States for supporting school meals drive

Highlighting the fact that providing a daily meal at school for children boosts attendance, improves child nutrition and helps concentration, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today praised the leaders of three Sudanese States for backing the agency’s school meals campaign and urged international donors to provide more assistance to Africa’s largest country.

WFP Sudan Regional Director Ramiro Lopes da Silva said he was very encouraged by the decisions of the Governors of North Kordofan, Kassala and Red Sea State to renew and expand their commitment to this programme, and by indications that a similar agreement would follow in South Kordofan.

“We appreciate that these governments are using their own, limited resources to support this programme, and the partnership that we already have with regional education ministries and schools will become even stronger,” he said.

“In North Kordofan, for example, schools with WFP meals saw a 71 per cent increase in enrolment over 12 months. In Kassala, where access to school for girls is traditionally low, enrolment rates for girls have increased from 15 percent in 2004 to 28 percent in 2005.”

Access to education is a key government priority at both the federal and state level, especially in the wake of a peace agreement 15 months ago that ended two decades of war in southern Sudan between the Government and rebels.

WFP aims to more than double the reach of its school meals to one million children throughout the country, and agreements with the State Governments will see the authorities, among other things, assist with monitoring and construction of storage facilities, while WFP will support training for teachers and cooks.

“School meals work best in partnership, with education authorities and schools, and with our fellow UN agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF),” said Mr. Lopes da Silva.

“There is one partner that I have not mentioned, the international donor community, but sadly this year they have been slow to step forward. The response to our appeals for funding in Sudan has been painfully slow.”

WFP said that its 2006 Emergency Operation, requiring $746 million, faces a shortfall of 83 per cent, while the agency’s 2002-2006 Country Programme, requiring $46 million, faces a 48 per cent shortfall.

“When I look at our work plans for Sudan for 2006, it is the school meals segment that represents the future,” Mr. Lopes da Silva said.

“Southern Sudan has the lowest school enrolment ratio in the world, just 20 per cent. Providing school meals is a practical way to address this. But, right now, we just don’t have the money. If we have to cross off school meals, we are crossing off the future. And that is a tragedy.”