Children in school face many challenges with hunger being a big challenge to them. Very often they go to school with empty stomachs and may return home to find nothing to eat. This is a major cause of school drop outs and difficulties in them pursuing their education. On October 24th, 2024, various civil society organizations who are members of the Global School Meals Coalition and who may have interest in the issue of meals in schools convened at the World Vision Head Office in Nairobi.
The main outcomes of the event were, the fact that the Global School Meals Coalition is government led, the commitment by the government of Kenya to incorporate school meals in its national climate change agenda, to do a follow up on the commitment by the government of Kenya on the issue of school meals, civil society organizations were encouraged to join the coalition and the various initiatives undertaken by CSOs in making sure school going kids don’t lack food. The discussants agreed among themselves and registered to engage with the government on the issue of meals in school. CHTEA was among the organisations at the table owing to education interest for both secondary, tertiary and university levels.
World Vision appreciated the participants from various CSOs for embracing the discourse. A brief background of the subject of the day was made citing that hunger was a major challenge to schoold regardless of where they were located. The Global School Meals Coalition was introduced as well as the circumstances that led to its formation. It was noted that food for children both in school and at home is a global challenge that requires the effort of everyone to tackle it. Participants were encouraged to feel free to engage and help to chart a way forward.
The coalition is a government led initiative and has seen the membership of 103 countries and 3 regions (continents) globally. There is a push for governments to make commitments to the coalition on actions they will take in actualizing the agenda of the coalition. Kenya was acknowledged as among the first to make her commitment with president William Ruto committing to introduce universal coverage, meaning a scale up from 1.8 million to 10 million children by 2030. The country is incorporating school meals into its national climate change effort, integrating planet friendly measures such as clean cooking initiatives. The Kenya commitment was shared among discussants in hard copies for perusal.
CSOs were encouraged to join the coalition as it provided an opportunity to engage the government on the issue of school meals which is of public interest. It was further stated that since it is the work of the government to provide food for the children in school, joining the coalition will enable the CSOs to push the government to make it a national agenda.