The Global Child Nutrition Forum is a four-day learning exchange and technical assistance conference held biannually to support countries in the development and implementation of sustainable school feeding programs.
Since 1997, the Forum has brought together governments from across the world and their partners for intensive training, technical assistance and planning, all directed toward establishing and strengthening country-operated school feeding programs. The Global Child Nutrition Forum aims to leverage the outcomes of the School Meals Coalition biannual ministerial meeting held in Paris, France in October 2023, by offering technical capacity building and learning exchange to help governments achieve their commitments and strengthen their programs.
The 2024 Forum will be held from Monday, December 9 through Thursday evening, December 12, 2024, in Osaka, Japan. The theme will be School Meal Programs in an Era of Food Systems Transformation and it will have the participation of the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES).
The Forum is offered in cooperation with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and International Child Nutrition Japan. The objectives of the Forum are to:
● Serve as a key platform for governments and their partners to learn, exchange experiences,
and gain inspiration for building, maintaining, and expanding high quality school meal programs.
● Highlight results of the Global Survey of School Meal Programs and other research, trends,
and innovations relevant to school meal programs.
● Showcase Japan’s local, national, and international experiences with school meal programs
and serve as an official pre-event to the 2025 Tokyo International Conference on African
Development (TICAD).
● Collectively develop key messages reflecting participant priorities to guide advocacy efforts over the coming year.
● Support the objectives of the School Meals Coalition (SMC) and Nutrition for Growth (N4G).
The RAES will participate in the Plenary Session Regional School Meal Program Updates. The global landscape for school feeding has shifted substantially over the past few years. Key recent
developments include: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed schools around the world and dramatically demonstrated the importance of children receiving a healthy meal each day and required major shifts–some temporary, some permanent–in school meal policies, procedures, and delivery mechanisms. Then came the challenge of bringing children back to school and dealing with the social and educational setbacks caused by the pandemic. Climate change and wars and escalating prices. A renewed push for universal school meals. The formation of the School Meals Coalition and the emergence of new partnerships and alliances, resources, and research.
The school meals landscape is being reshaped, and this session will present an opportunity for
panelists to present highlights and updates regarding recent developments, activities, and trends currently taking place in different geographic regions around the world.
More information: https://gcnf.org/2024-global-child-nutrition-forum/https://gcnf.org/2024-global-child-nutrition-forum/
