The initiative is organized by FAO Ecuador and Food Coalition, with the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES).
To discuss public policies on school feeding and their multi-sectoral action axes, which allow highlighting and positioning issues such as nutrition, education, and health, a series of three exchanges of experiences with Latin American countries will begin on March 1st. In the first virtual event, the topic will be legislation on school feeding and the Human Right to Adequate Food.
The organization of this event is under the responsibility of the FAO Representation in Ecuador and the Food Coalition. The initiative also has the support of the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES, for its English acronym), a strategy carried out by the Government of Brazil, through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), with support from FAO.
From the perspective of the organizing institutions of the webinar, school feeding policies facilitate countries in achieving objectives in different strategic areas, having a cross-cutting impact on the fight against poverty and hunger, favoring the human development of students, improving food security, and promoting the development of the local economy through public procurement for school feeding programmes.
Key elements for the design of regulatory frameworks
The webinar will have the presence of international experts and managers of school feeding policy from Brazil, Guatemala, and Ecuador, aiming to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on the implementation of actions that strengthen school feeding.
One of the presentations will address the importance of legislation to guarantee adequate school feeding and nutrition, and the key elements to guide the development of school feeding laws, highlighting the contributions provided by the Sustainable Schools methodology, developed by the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation to strengthen school feeding programmes in the region.
The next topics in this series of dialogues will be: (i) advancements and best practices in public food procurement for school feeding; (ii) exchange of strategies for the prevention and measurement of food waste in social protection programmes.
Food Coalition
The Food Coalition is a global alliance of multiple stakeholders, aimed at responding to and recovering from COVID-19. This global action network aims to mobilize financial resources, innovations, and technical competencies, promote advocacy activities, and establish a neutral space for dialogue among a variety of key stakeholders in support of the countries most in need.
In 2021, Colombia, Ecuador, and El Salvador, through the FAO representations and in conjunction with national governments, expressed interest in developing the project “Strengthening School Feeding Programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” which seeks to unite efforts for the strengthening and scaling up of school feeding programmes through the Sustainable Schools methodology, to contribute to the guarantee of the Human Right to Adequate Food. The three countries have the support of the Food Coalition.
Additional information:
Date: March 1st, 2024
Time: 8:00 – 10:00 (El Salvador – Guatemala Time), 09:00 – 11:00 (Colombia – Ecuador Time), 11:00 – 13:00 (Brazil – Chile Time), 16:00 – 18:00 (Italy Time).
Audience: School feeding technicians and managers, government officials, civil society representatives, legislative sector representatives, RAES representatives, FAO technical specialists and partners from participating countries related to school feeding.
Link: https://fao.zoom.us/j/94010564967?pwd=d3lteG5sM3UzejcwZmloVHZLRklwUT09
There will be interpretation for English, Spanish and Portuguese.
