National Forum to promote the SFP as a reference public policy to ensure the human right to food had the participation of the RAES Network.
Asuncion, Paraguay, December 16, 2023 – Creating a space to define actions to strengthen the School Feeding Programme in Paraguay (PAEP) as a reference public policy to guarantee the human right to food in the country was the objective of the “National Forum on School Feeding: Trajectory and Perspectives in Paraguay,” held from Wednesday, December 13, to Thursday, December 14, in Asunción. The event was organized by the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC) with the technical cooperation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The initial session on Wednesday took place at the Grand Hotel of Paraguay, with an internal analysis meeting of the MEC, which also involved members of the Interinstitutional Technical Team (ETI). On Thursday, the session took place at the Bicentennial Hall of the La Galería Convention Center. Government authorities, governors, mayors, MEC directors, representatives of international organizations, and education leaders participated.
MEC presented the progress and trajectory of the SFP in Paraguay, as well as the government’s perspectives and initiatives to strengthen the programme. Minister Luis Ramírez emphasized that the proper nutrition of children is crucial for their learning and attendance in classrooms.
FAO collaborates in Paraguay to strengthen the SFP with the goal of making it universal. Various strategies are implemented to contribute to the design of public policies that guarantee the human right to food. This includes training the technical teams, conducting assessments, and analyzing data to implement improvements.
International speakers at the event included Israel Ríos, FAO Nutrition Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean; Najla Veloso, Regional Coordinator of Brazil-FAO Cooperation in school feeding; Paola Barbieri, Project Analyst at the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC); Edenilza Costa de Souza Carvalho, Coordinator of Monitoring and Evaluation of PNAE-Brazil, in representation of the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE); and Milena Pereira, Legal Specialist in Food Security and Nutrition at FAO in Paraguay.
Background
In 2014, Paraguay enacted Law No. 5210 on “School Feeding and Sanitary Control” and its Regulatory Decree No. 2366. Subsequently, Ministerial Resolution No. 15.866 was issued, approving the “Technical and Administrative Guidelines of the School Feeding Program of Paraguay.” This legal framework consolidates school feeding as a public policy aiming to instill healthy lifestyle habits in students and ensure their right to food.
The school feeding programme of Paraguay (PAEP) has a purely educational purpose. Its overall objective is to contribute to access, reduce absenteeism, and retain students through the establishment of nutritional education and attention to the nutritional needs of students during their time in educational institutions. This aligns with its purpose of contributing to the formation of healthy lifestyles and the incorporation of appropriate eating habits.
PAEP specifies that school feeding should take place in an educationally, nutritionally, and culturally appropriate environment, allowing the learning of healthy eating habits and lifestyles to mitigate the occurrence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, among others.
This public policy, ensuring the human right to food, aims to stimulate sustainable development by contributing to the local economy. This is achieved by promoting the provision of healthy food products for school feeding from various sectors, such as family farming. It also aims to support the comprehensive training of social capital involved in the production, distribution, preparation, and delivery of food to improve the quality of life and promote production systems with a lower environmental impact.
Paraguay, member of RAES
Paraguay is part of the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES), a strategy of International Cooperation developed by the Government of Brazil through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE) and the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE/MEC). It has the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
RAES was a response from these Brazilian institutions to the United Nations Decade of Action for Nutrition (2016-2025), proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2016 after the recommendations of the II International Conference on Nutrition in Rome in 2014. The Decade records the commitment of world leaders to establish national policies aimed at eradicating hunger and malnutrition, seeking the transformation of food systems in favor of nutritious diets and access to healthy foods for all.
RAES Network aims to support countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the implementation and reformulation of their school feeding programmes, under the principle of the human right to adequate food. This means providing healthy, appropriate, tasty food in line with local culture to all students, in suitable spaces, associated with actions of nutritional education.
