The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has pledged its support for the Sindh to Provide Healthy Food to Students through its School Meal Programme (SMP). This collaborative effort aims to offer free breakfast, lunch, and milk to schoolchildren, ensuring they receive nutritious and balanced meals.
WFP Country Director Coco Ushiyama met with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House to discuss strategies for reducing the number of out-of-school children. The Chief Minister emphasized the need for pilot programmes that could be scaled up over time with WFP’s support.
The provincial government plans to launch the SMP on a public-private partnership basis, aiming to offer nutritious and hygienic meals to students. This initiative is designed to improve key performance indicators such as enrolment, attendance, and learning outcomes.
A press release from the CM House highlighted the WFP’s commitment to the SMP. The Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah noted that the Sindh government, in collaboration with WFP, provides nutrition, health, and social behaviour change services to pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children. To date, over 830,000 individuals have been enrolled in the programme across 140 facilitation centres in 30 districts.
The meeting also focused on strengthening cooperation in areas such as disaster preparedness, climate change adaptation, acute malnutrition, and expanding food silos under WFP’s five-year country strategic plan. The Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah acknowledged the strong partnership between the Sindh government and WFP in addressing humanitarian and development challenges.
Additionally, WFP’s support extends to the Adolescent Girls Nutrition Programme and the expansion of the Chakki Fortification Programme, which aims to fortify wheat flour using small-scale mills in eight districts. CM Syed Murad Ali Shah also expressed the need to enhance wheat storage capacity in the province, noting WFP’s assistance through the International Financing Corporation (IFC) in constructing strategic grain reserves.
The enduring collaboration between the Sindh government and WFP continues to play a crucial role in improving the province’s food system and addressing nutrition and education challenges.
