On March 10, SIFI, WFP and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic announced the launch of an educational campaign for children dedicated to the celebration of International School Meals Day in Kyrgyzstan. The campaign is expected to reach over 500,000 children and their parents across the country.
Activities aimed at changing the culture of eating behavior in school-age children will be carried out both online and offline. Since March 10, tasks of a thematic online game for young schoolchildren have been published in the official accounts of WFP in Facebook and Instagram. Everyone can join, and the fastest and most active will receive prizes for completing all the tasks. The game raises such important topics of healthy eating as drinking regimen, the principle of a healthy plate, limiting sugar and unhealthy fats in the diet. The tasks are selected so that parents do not stand aside, but help children pass all the challenges and get inspired by the ideas of a healthy lifestyle.
The campaign will continue with a series of theatrical performances for primary school students, which will be carried out in 35 schools across the country. High school students from these schools will perform in skits. Involving older students, the organizers want to convey the key messages of the campaign. After all, little ones love to imitate older friends. This means that the elders can become those who, in a playful way, teach them make the right choice in favor of their health.
School meals in Kyrgyzstan are gaining momentum every year. Thanks to the WFP School Meals Optimization Programme, more schools are switching to balanced hot meals. The infrastructure of school canteens is being updated, catering units, communications are being laid, thousands of school cooks improve their skills at trainings on the technology of safe preparation of school meals.
To date, about 220,000 primary school students in more than 800 schools receive hot meals. In the near future, it is planned to provide all schools in the country with hot lunches.