Date: July 30, 2024
Time: 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Conrad Cairo (Google Maps)
Background
Global estimates show that 309 million people in 72 countries are acutely food insecure. In parallel, half a million children under 18 years of age lived in a conflict-affected country, and nearly 100 million children lived within 50 km from where fighting occurred. Children are particularly vulnerable during conflict, including from direct effects on mortality, morbidity, and malnutrition in the short- and long-term in addition to indirect effects from weakening food and health systems, markets, and institutions. In the Middle East, ~40% of children live in conflict zones, the highest share globally.
As of 2022, around 418 million children were receiving school meals globally, making school feeding programs (SFPs) an extensive safety net for children and their families. School feeding programs also play an important role during and in the aftermath of humanitarian emergencies, including conflict, natural disasters, and economic crises. In these contexts, school feeding programs can not only improve children’s nutrition, health, and education, but also improve child safety, protect against risks and disruptions, and provide a sense of normalcy as well as improve household food security and resilience. However, despite this potential of school feeding programs to support children in emergencies, rigorous evidence on their effectiveness in these contexts is extremely limited.
It is against this background that the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) organised a policy seminar in Cairo, Egypt on 30 July 2024, title “Towards Advancing Children’s Nutritional Intake: Taking Stock of Evidence-based Effective School Feeding Programs in the Middle East and North Africa”. The seminar brought together different stakeholders including government officials, international development agencies, non-government officials, and academia to discuss recent evidence and ongoing evaluations that study the effectiveness of school feeding programs in the MENA region.
Objectives
The policy seminar aimed at enhancing cross country knowledge sharing through:
- Taking stock of past and ongoing studies showcasing evidence on effectiveness school feeding models,
- Presenting novel findings from a randomised trial of the impacts of adding milk a micronutrient fortified school feeding program in emergency/humanitarian situation, and
- Propose collective collaboration across different stakeholders to continuously improve school feeding programs in the MENA region.
Video recording
Photo album
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 10:00 – 10:05 am | Opening Remarks | Dr. Sikandra Kurdi, Egypt Country Program Leader, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| 10:05 – 10:55 am Keynote Presentation |
Overview of School Feeding Programs in MENA (7 mins) Feasibility of Alternative School Feeding Models in Emergency Contexts: Findings from a Qualitative Evaluation (8 mins)
WFP School Feeding Operations in Emergency Contexts (10 mins) The School Feeding Milk Initiative: Pilot Objectives and Implementation Overview (10 mins) Impact of the School Milk Initiative: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial during Humanitarian Crisis (15 mins) |
Dr. Lily Bliznashka, Research Fellow, IFPRI
Ms. Dalia Al Sabbagh, IFPRI Collaborator (See slides) Mr. Michael Aron, Chief International Affairs Officer, HSA Group Dr. Lily Bliznashka, Research Fellow, IFPRI (See slides) |
| 10:55 – 11:30 am Panel Discussion |
School Feeding Programs in the MENA Region: Challenges and Opportunities | Dr. Imane Helmy, Senior Economist, World Bank Group
Mr. Mayank Goel, Director, Middle East and Africa, Tetra Pak Food for Development Mr. Peiman Milani, Director of the Food Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation (virtual attendance) Dr. Purnima Menon, Senior Director for Food and Nutrition Policy, IFPRI representative from the World Food Programme (TBC) Moderator: Dr. Sikandra Kurdi, Egypt Country Program Leader, IFPRI |
| 11:30 – 11:55 am | Q&A Discussion | Moderator: Dr. Sikandra Kurdi, Egypt Country Program Leader, IFPRI |
| 11:55 – 12:00 pm | Wrap up & Closing remarks | Dr. Sikandra Kurdi, Egypt Country Program Leader, IFPRI |
