The Healthy Nutrition Month campaign is aimed at stimulating the interest and desire of primary school students to lead a healthy lifestyle, to choose healthy foods and dishes, laying the foundation for healthy eating behavior from childhood.
“Thanks to the contribution of our partners more than 1,500 schools have modern kitchen equipment. The canteens of these schools have been renovated, communications have been connected. Children have the opportunity to wash their hands and receive safe hot meals. The joint work of partners and teachers does not go to waste. Parents often tell me that their children, coming home from school, show all the household members how to wash their hands properly, how to eat properly and in a balanced way. They are taught this at school, ”said Nadira Dzhusupbekova.
Andrea Bagnoli congratulated the students on International School Meals Day and marked how important it is for schoolchildren not to forget that a lot of people are working on the quality of their hot meals at school: “Today I want to celebrate these people. First of all, chefs who prepare healthy balanced meals from available products. I would also like to celebrate the teachers, the headmaster, and your parents. Each of them makes sure you have delicious healthy food on your school plates. And, of course, partners: SIFI, which provides technical support to the School Meals Programme in Kyrgyzstan, and WFP, which supports school meals programmes in more than 80 countries around the world. All our work is impossible without the support of the Ministry and the Government".
After the solemn part of the event, the guests attended an open class on healthy nutrition at the school, talked with students, learned their attitude to school meals and what dishes they like best.
For information
The first stage was completed in 2017. Results of work:
- a draft state programme for the sustainable development of school meals of the Kyrgyz Republic was developed;
- delivered modern technological and refrigeration equipment to 134 pilot schools for a total amount of about $ 950,000;
- trainings were conducted for employees of pilot schools, local authorities on the organization of school meals.
The second stage is calculated until 2022. Intermediate results of the work:
- the Law “On the organization of meals for students in educational institutions of the Kyrgyz Republic” was adopted;
- 164 schools are equipped with new technological equipment worth about $ 750,319;
- trainings were developed on the topics of healthy nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, various aspects of organizing meals for schoolchildren;
- a web portal for parents on the organization of school meals was launched under the Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic;
- 3,000 employees of schools, education departments were trained in various aspects of organizing school meals.