Education Ministry, WFP launch National Strategy for School Feeding

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education on Tuesday launched the National Strategy for School Feeding (2021-2025) as a blueprint to improve the health and nutritional status of schoolchildren, while also serving as a roadmap for education, health and food security.

The strategy, developed in cooperation with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), lays out a plan for all-encompassing action to improve the school feeding system and promote a healthy food culture, according to a ministry statement cited by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The blueprint seeks to “raise a generation capable of making healthy and sensible food choices”, consequently improving the social and economic well-being of the society at large, according to Petra.

During a ceremony to unveil the strategy, Minister of Education Wajih Owais said that it is the result of ongoing cooperation between the ministry and the WFP to support the students' physical, mental, psychological and social development.

WFP Resident Representative and Country Director in Jordan Alberto Correa Mendes said that the strategic relation with the Ministry of Education in the National School Feeding Programme is an important component of the programme's commitment to the Jordanian government.

He cited a recent project to supply schools with nutritious meals prepared by local women.

Since 2013, the National School Feeding Programme has provided nutritious snacks to over 430,000 public school students aged between six and 12 in underprivileged regions across the Kingdom.