Virtual meeting gathered 67 professionals from LAC countries.
Paulo Beraldo
Brasília, Brazil, February 27, 2025 – The Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) held its first meeting with focal points from its member countries and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on February 26, 2025.
The virtual meeting brought together 67 professionals from member countries and FAO national offices, presenting the progress and work carried out by RAES since the last meeting in Panama in November 2024, where the countries’ membership was officially established.
The meeting provided a platform for countries to share their progress in school feeding and for the RAES Secretariat to present the planned actions for 2025. At the end of this note, links to these updates can be found.
One of the key announcements was RAES’ entry into the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative launched by the Government of Brazil under the G-20 framework to support international cooperation and accelerate efforts to eradicate hunger. RAES has committed to strengthening the knowledge pillar within the Alliance. Other upcoming activities highlighted during the meeting include:
- Publication of at least four studies on school feeding:
i) Advances in school feeding in 16 Latin American Countries.
ii) School Feeding: Trajectory and Progress in LAC.
iii) Facilitating and Hindering Factors in Family Farming Procurement for School Feeding in Brazil.
iv) Analysis of School Feeding Program Development in LAC (case study of six countries). - A virtual seminar to share the results obtained in 2024.
- An open call in the coming months for new participants in the study on PAE development in LAC.
- RAES participation in key events, such as:
- Nutrition for Growth (N4G) in France (March).
- Food Security Symposium in Cuba (April).
- Regional School Feeding Forum in Honduras (July).
- International Seminar on School Feeding in Chile (June).
- Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Italy (October).
- Other events to be defined.
- A three-session virtual series in May on the Unilateral Trust Fund (UTF), a project financing mechanism.
- A technical visit to Brasília to observe school feeding implementation in the field.
- Planning for an in-person RAES focal points event (date and location to be confirmed).
- An online course on Sustainable Schools and its components.
- Virtual exchanges on various topics.
- Regular individual meetings with countries
RAES is a Trilateral South-South Cooperation initiative jointly implemented by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE), the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), and the FAO, which also serves as the executive secretariat. The current member countries are Belize, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Uruguay.
During this meeting, the managing institutions of RAES—ABC, FNDE, and FAO—reaffirmed their commitment to regional school feeding initiatives and the follow-up of activities throughout 2025.
Youtube original link video: https://youtu.be/KYzDdwF1kIE
Audio in English:
Password: !1tp5p0D
Link with the information of the advances of the countries: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wjtpDLeKnN__ndRBSf1MfhH0q_m6hoM4eZWFUsyndyY/edit?usp=sharing
