Government Will Replace The Role of WFP in Providing School Meals

PHNOM PENH – Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, spoke in the National Conference on “Decentralization and Deconcentration, Experiences, Challenges and Future Vision” on Thursday 22^nd that government will make the distribution of nutritious school meals to schools in rural areas in 2021, taking over the responsibility of World Food Programme (WFP).

“WFP will end its project, which provides nutritious meals to schools in rural areas, in 2021”, the PM said during the closing ceremony of the annual conference.

Since 2008, WFP has been providing nutritious school meals to Cambodian pre- and primary school children in rural and food-insecure communities with the main aim is to support universal access to education.

It also runs programs offering take-home cash or rice in exchange for at least 80 percent school attendance. (World Food Programme Cambodia)

After several years, the WFP has run out of budget to support the project. In order to ensure the efficiency of the project, WFP had requested fund from government, and the government agreed to grant rice.

PM has stated in the conference that he had already spoken with representatives of the UN, and of the WFP on Tuesday 20^th, about taking over the provision of healthy meals to rural Cambodia pre- and primary school students in 2021, according to local reports.

Transferring rice directly to school will make the distribution easier and faster. Therefore, we negotiated and agreed that the WFP will withdraw from the project in 2021, said the PM.

Government of Cambodia will take over the responsibility from WFP in 2021