U.N. official to speak on school feeding programs

March 22, Kansas City -- Judith Lewis, director, U.S. Relations Office, for the United Nations World Food Programme, on April 19 will bring to Kansas City the W.F.P’s “19c a day” program that aims to expand highly effective school feeding programs in the developing countries. Ms. Lewis is a 10-year veteran with the W.F.P. having served in a variety of capacities in Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, as well as at the W.F.P. headquarters in Rome, before taking on her current assignment in Washington. She will address Kansas Citians on Monday, April 19, 7:30 p.m., at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church at 4501 Walnut, in midtown Kansas City near the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

More than 300 million of the world's children are malnourished, according to the W.F.P. Of those hungry children, 130 million currently don’t go to school. One-hundred-fifty million do go to school, but with empty stomachs. “That means they can’t learn. They don’t have the energy,” said Dr. Lewis.

For 19 cents a day, or $34 a year, a school child in a developing country can be provided with one nutritious meal each school day. The W.F.P. already is feeding 16 million children in 64 countries through its school feeding programs.

“We think that providing food in the schools is one of the best and most effective ways to fight hunger and poverty,” Dr. Lewis explained. “We’re helping the poor, yes. We’re also providing a nutritious meal at school. It’s a win/win. It improves literacy, and it also helps children become healthy and break out of the cycle of poverty.”

School feeding programs encourage school attendance. This is particularly the case with girl children, who are grossly underrepresented in schools in many developing countries. And research shows that with each additional year in school, young women delay having children and have fewer children. They are healthier, and they make better life choices, because they’re educated.

School attendance also is key to educating broad sections of youth about HIV/AIDS. Education has been called the only “vaccine” against HIV/AIDS. And education helps develop educated populations that can lift nations out of poverty.

Several nations, including the United States, as well as private voluntary organizations have partnered with the World Food Programme in developing school feeding programs. But so much more needs to be done. Join us April 19 to find out what you can do.

For further information, email info@una-kc.org.

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