UN WFP’s School Meal Programmes boosted by ‘End Hunger with Goodness’ Campaign by Choithrams

Girls picking and eating fresh vegetables and manakish in their school yard in Gaza. This is part of WFP Palestine school interventions School feeding, school interventions, resilience

News Desk

DUBAI: One of the city’s favourite retailers, Choithrams, teams up with its long-term partner, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), to launch “End Hunger with Goodness” – an important initiative in support of WFP’s aim to achieve Zero Hunger globally by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 4-month awareness and fundraising campaign is set to roll out between September 1 and December 31, 2023. Generous proceeds from the campaign will go towards supporting WFP’s School Meal Programmes in the Middle East region, benefiting children in the most vulnerable communities.

WFP’s school meals serve as a crucial safety net, guaranteeing access to education, health, and nutrition for children in food-insecure parts of the world. This is particularly vital for vulnerable students who often face challenges like illness, hunger, and malnutrition, which hinder consistent school attendance. For these individuals and their families, the provision of daily meals or snacks acts as a compelling incentive to maintain regular school attendance, especially for girls.

Since 2015, Choithrams has backed WFP by donating 6.5 million school meals to its programmes in the Middle East, and by promoting Zero Hunger messages to millions of UAE residents annually.

L. T. Pagarani, Chairman of Choithrams said, “While we owe it to our generous customers for the tremendous impact over the years, we look forward to reaching more beneficiaries with “End Hunger with Goodness” campaign. Research shows that school-meal programmes can increase enrolment by 9 per cent on an average. In areas where there are prevalent barriers to education, including child labour, early marriage, or gender inequalities, WFP school meal programmes reach specific groups of children including adolescent girls and children from marginalised communities. Therefore, we should double down on our efforts to ensure no child is left behind in the quest for education.”

When customers buy “Goodness Foods” products, Choithrams pledges up to AED 4 to WFP’s school meals programmes. Only products marked with a special sticker qualify, these are available at 28+ Choithrams stores in Dubai, online on Choithrams.com, and food apps.

“Choithrams’ valuable support for WFP `School meal programs in the Middle East region comes at a crucial time, as the number of acutely malnourished children continues to increase. It is vital to take action to improve nutrition among both children and mothers to prevent the risk of a lost generation”, said Mageed Yahia, WFP Representative to the GCC. “The global estimate of up to 60 million acutely malnourished children emphasizes the importance of consistent funding from the private sector partners, as well as engaging with consumers and the community at large, to effectively address this significant challenge faced by WFP.” He added.

This year, during the #ZeroHungerwithGoodness 4 months advocacy campaign, Dubai’s popular clinical dietician Mitun De Sarkar will present bite-sized ideas on how to contribute to ending hunger and adopting wholesome eating habits in line with the campaign theme “End Hunger with Goodness”. Mitun’s sought after recipes and tips have helped advocate WFP’s Zero Hunger messages to thousands of followers on popular social media channels in the past few years.