Dakar, March 18 2021 - As part of its COVID-19 Pandemic Response Plan, the Senegalese National Education Ministry launches a school feeding program on Thursday, March 18, 2021 with CFAF552 million in GPE funding and operational support from the World Food Program (WFP).
Though funded by GPE, the program has been delegated to French development agency (AFD).
The launch ceremony will be held at the Diamniadio ministerial sphere and will be chaired by the National Education Minister in the presence of His Excellency Philippe Lalliot, French Ambassador to Senegal, Diane Jegam, Deputy Director of AFD Dakar Office, and Fatih Terki, WFP Director and Representative in Senegal.
The initiative is being rolled out as part of the Support Program for the Development of Education in Senegal – Response and Resilience (PADES-RR). This CFAF3.8 billion emergency program funded by GPE and delegated to AFD will mitigate the effects of the health crisis on education and ensure the continuity of education services, in line with the Presidential School Feeding Program.
The school feeding program will set up canteen services in public schools in the most disadvantaged rural and peri-urban areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will alleviate the health and socioeconomic impact of the pandemic on students and their families and encourage the most vulnerable students to attend and achieve at school.
Nearly 107,000 students will benefit from the program in 637 primary schools across 23 Education and Training Inspectorates (IEF) in the regions of Thiès, Diourbel, Kaolack, Saint-Louis, Kolda, Sédhiou and Ziguinchor.
These regions have been selected on the basis of three health, education and food vulnerability indicators: the cumulative number of reported COVID-19 cases, the school dropout rate, and the level of food insecurity and acute malnutrition observed among students. In total, students will receive 8.5 million meals.
This ceremony will demonstrate the Government of Senegal’s commitment to providing support to education sector stakeholders for academic achievement and mitigation of the effects of the Covid-19 crisis for the 2020-2021 school year.
Press contact:
Mame-Diarra Thiam (AFD) : E-mail : @email. Tél : (+221) 781-03-56-08.