By Nicole McIntyre
3 February 2009, [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Last week the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) resumed its school feeding program in Gaza. Since the ceasefire came into effect and schools reopened last Saturday, 30,000 children are now dependent on rations of canned meat, milk, bread, date bars, and high energy biscuits. For many, the Food for Education (FFE) program is the only reliable meal five days a week.
WFP school feeding initiatives in Gaza fight hunger and malnutrition while boosting education. It simultaneously addresses the Millenium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and achieving universal primary education by 2015. Mr. Daly Belgasmi, WFP’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe told MediaGlobal, “We are reaching over 30,000 students today in Gaza. The school feeding programme is quite challenging because we are trying also to promote girls’ education.”
The WFP’s Emergency Food Assistance for Operation Lifeline Gaza is currently a 12-month operation targeting the non-refugee population (over 1/3 of the total population of the Gaza Strip). The immediate response emergency operation (IR-EMOP) is being used to secure emergency supplies of nutritious date bars and other ready-to-eat food to assist populations when they are unable to access sufficient water and cooking gas to prepare meals. To feed 365,000 Palestinians in Gaza, Operation Lifeline Gaza will need 73,000 metric tons of food, at a total cost of just over $77 million dollars.
One of WFP’s main objectives for its school feeding program is to maintain the enrollment of girls and boys in schools at pre-crisis levels. FFE tries to restore a stable routine of education to have a positive impact on children and their communities. As long as there is no significant school disruption due to another spat of increased violence or pipeline break, the WFP believes it can increase enrollment and daily attendance rates while decreasing drop-out rates.
Girls’ educations is another aspect of social development addressed by the WFP’s school-feeding program. To encourage the poorest families to send their girls to school, the WFP’s “take-home ration” initiative includes basic food items, such as rice and cooking oil. In schools where WFP provides meals, girls enrollment has increased by 28 percent.
Cooperation and participation of communities, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations is vital. Mr. Belgasmi explained that his organization is in negotiations with the UK-based charity, Islamic Relief, to take care of food distribution in schools. Canned meat, milk, and salt will eventually be produced locally to help stimulate economic activity. Implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the in-school meals can be in the form of breakfast or a mid-morning snack.
Women’s groups preparing snacks for the school feeding rations at Sabaya Centre in Kharas, Western Hebron. (Photo courtesy World Food Program/Nir Kafri.)
Much of Gaza’s internal infrastructure has been damaged in the conflict. A lack of electricity has halted sewage works, and water shortages have contributed to a grave concern for public health. The WFP estimates that since the end of December, the incidence of global acute malnutrition GAM and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in young children has increased. As of its 14 January humanitarian update, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that there may be over 3,000 severely malnourished children in the Gaza Strip. The WFP uses fortified foods of a high nutritional value to ensure that children get the vitamins and minerals essential for normal growth.
Gaza has experienced major food shortages over the last 18 months, particularly wheat flour for bakeries since the end of December. WFP Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Ramiro Lopes da Silva, said last week, “We are going to ensure that those who have been without access to food receive a nutritious boost as we begin to rebuild food security.” Food security has consistently been in the headlines this week with the high-profile Food Security for All summit in Madrid, followed by the World Economic Forum in Davos. “It’s an almost complete breakdown of food supply and distribution system with an estimated 88 percent of the people in Gaza… including 80,000 children… dependent on food assistance,” said Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the WFP.
According to Belgasmi, “This is our contribution to peace in these difficult circumstances… [O]pening schools and providing [students] with appropriate food items to encourage attendance and giving them [food] of nutritional value.” Of the 75 million primary school-aged children that do not go to school, 97 percent of them are in developing countries. With its FFE initiative, school meals aim to improve regular attendance among vulnerable children with the promise of at least one nutritious meal a day.