MANILA, Philippines – In Somalia only 6 out of 10 children go to school. The World Food Programme (WFP) is helping to raise the numbers by providing students with healthy and nutritious meals at school in a program that tackles both the issues of hunger and education.
Somalia is notorious for having one of the lowest enrollment rates in the world due to the country’s conflict ridden history but as the nation is slowly beginning to stabilize, organizations like the WFP have been able to establish operations in certain parts of the country. They are now serving two meals a day to around 106,000 children in 473 primary schools.
In Abdirahman Godyare primary school enrollment rates have already risen, especially for female students, since the WFP began operations in 2007. Prior to the school meals program, the school had only 100 female students. Now there are 385 females enrolled out of a student population of 780.
It is a common practice for young girls in Somalia to be kept at home in order to help with household chores rather than go to school.
As an incentive for parents to send their daughters back to school the WFP provides female students an additional take home ration of 3.5 kg of cooking oil – provided they are present for at least 80% of the month.
Even with free education, this is not a guarantee that the family can still afford books and uniforms. Because of this, it is common of children, especially girls, to start primary school at a late age (some as late as 17). However the assurance that their children get two square meals a day and additional cooking oil lessen the financial burden of parents.
If security conditions allow, the WFP hopes to expand this program to the country’s capital, Mogadishu by December. A target of providing meals for 5,000 children has been set.
The WFP has been implementing similar school feeding programs for about 50 years. In 2012 the WFP provided school meals to around 24.7 million students. Today these programs are operating in 60 countries. – Rappler.com
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