Managing continuity and preparedness of school feeding programmes under COVID-19 and the South-South Cooperation role

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Se ofreció interpretación simultánea (Inglés-Español) para esta sesión.

At least 310 million school children are currently missing school meals in 162 countries. The massive impact of school closures has highlighted the importance of school feeding programmes that provide a crucial, widespread safety net that supports vulnerable children and their families. Many low- and middle-income countries are adapting their programmes to continue supporting children during school closures and will soon turn their attention towards school reopening. When schools reopen, countries will need to rethink how to improve their programmes under a reduced budget scenario and how to prepare these programmes for any other future crisis or in case of a second wave of the pandemic.

To support the necessary coping mechanisms, the World Food Programme (WFP) continued to provide basic service delivery support for countries to adapt their programmes and continue serving meals. As schools start to reopen, South-South Cooperation, as a means for knowledge exchange and technical assistance, can contribute to programme adaptation and resilience. This webinar presented the global scenario and the tools available to support school feeding programmes in Latin America, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa while the crisis’ effects last. Voices from the field across the globe showcased how they are dealing with coping mechanisms and managing continuity at the same time they need to plan for improving actions in a long-term crisis. The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation presented how this modality of cooperation can be a means to support adaption and preparedness for programmes like school feeding. 

 

Speakers:

Mr. Pedro Mortara, Programme Policy Officer leading School Feeding actions, WFP Mozambique Country Office (Maputo)

Mr. Chhun Ramy, Deputy Secretary of the Primary Education Department, Ministry of Education Youth and Sport of Cambodia (Phnom Penh)

Mr. Juan Carlos Martínez, Director of the School Feeding Special Management, Ministry of Education, Government of Colombia (Bogota)

 

Discussants:

Ms. Carmen Burbano, Director and co-author of the “WFP, UNICEF, FAO Interim guidance for COVID-19 prevention and control in schools”, WFP School-Based Services (Rome)

Mr. Jorge Chediek, Director, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation (New York)

 

Moderator:

Mr. Daniel Balaban, Director, WFP Centre of Excellence in Brazil (Brasilia)

 

Resources:

Interim guidance for COVID-19 prevention and control in schools

Framework for reopening schools

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Shocks to Education and Policy Responses

Virtual Exchanges: Remote Support to School Feeding

A Chance for every Schoolchild - WFP School Feeding Strategy 2020 - 2030

 

This was the twenty-third webinar of the ''Social Protection Responses to COVID-19'' webinar seriesThe series is a joint effort initiated by the IPC-IGGIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Australia Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) collaboration with the socialprotection.org platform, and in cooperation with partners from different organisations. Join our online community ''Social protection responses to COVID-19 [Task force]'' to learn more about the initiative and future webinars.