His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has addressed the United Nations Food System Stocktaking Moment in Rome, Italy and called on world leaders to work towards the shared goal of ensuring that every child has the opportunity to receive a healthy, nutritious meal by 2030.
The President also welcomed the announcement by the German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, that his government had decided to support the accelerated School Meals Programme through the World Food Programme and would invest, in the next five years, €22 million in Sierra Leone and Laos.
The President was speaking as a special guest of the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, at their Food System Stocktaking Moment in Rome, Italy, the first global follow-up to the 2021 Food Systems Summit that was held during the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2022.
He thanked the UN for the invite and the Government of the Italian Republic for its leadership in hosting the food summit, adding that the global community would resolve to transform the food system towards a shared community that would accelerate progress in the sustainable development goals. He acknowledged the growing food insecurity in the world, especially in developing countries, and that of children, who were also disproportionately impacted.
“His Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, 153 million children are globally faced with acute food insecurity. I believe that this session on ‘School Meals: Powering Food Systems Transformation’ will highlight school meals as a transformative initiative that will address not only food insecurity among children but also education and health outcomes.
“In Sierra Leone, for instance, we have seen firsthand effects on education and health outcomes among children. In 2018, my government launched the National School Feeding Programme with support from partners, targeting 250 children in two districts. Today, my government supports over 800,000 children nationwide, and my government covers 80 percent of the cost of the programme,” he revealed.
The President noted that the impact of the programme had been positive, with an increase in school attendance, a high retention rate and an increase in enrollment that helped reduce stunting growth at all levels. He said his government had also seen a reduction in gender disparity in primary schools and assured that they would continue to show strong political and institutional support for the initiative.
President Bio reminded the audience that, “In 2022, Sierra Leone joined the School Meals Coalition. We believe that coalition was a good way for my government to get support to improve the implementation and to ensure that, together with partners, every child will have the opportunity to receive a healthy, nutritious meal by 2030.”
“In my second term in office, my flagship initiative is to feed Sierra Leone. That is to seek to increase productivity in agriculture by boosting food security, building resilience and a sustainable supply chain of locally produced food, creating jobs, and increasing income for farmers, which are key pillars of the initiatives.
“In the next two years, the government aims to feed over 1.5 million children in school. We need more local food production to meet this goal. Food from local producers will make up the big chunk to be able to feed the children, as well as partners support in that area towards achieving the government’s goals,” the President emphasised.
The German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, told the summit that the Federal Government of Germany has decided to support the accelerated School Meals Programme through the World Food Programme and would invest, in the next five years, €22 million in Sierra Leone and Laos. He said the support would be used to help provide nutritious meals for schoolchildren at such a crucial time because school meals would assist the government in fighting malnutrition.
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