Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever, through the Royco brand, has for the second year partnered with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide one million meals to school going children in Kenya.
The two are marking World Food Day to be observed on 16th October 2015 by encouraging people to share a meal. According to WFP one in four people lack the nutrition needed to live a healthy life.
The meals will be delivered through WFP’s ‘Home Grown School Meals Programme’. The Royco initiative also aims to help break the cycle of poverty working towards the UN’s Zero Hunger goal. “The wider society should come together and provide this much needed support in nutritional value to the families that need it most,” said Marc Engel, CEO for Unilever East Africa.
Using fresh, healthy ingredients that provide essential nutrition to children, these meals encourage parents to send their children to school, helping to provide an education to many children, more than half of them girls, who are unable to attend lessons.
“A school lunch is not just a meal. It’s helping a Kenyan child go to school, stay in school, concentrate in class and grow up to be a healthy and strong adult – it is investing in the next generation,” added Engel.
Sharing a meal could be cooking for someone in your community or donating food or time to a local food bank. Crucially, to inspire others to get involved, Royco and WFP are encouraging anyone who takes part to show how they have shared a meal on social media, using the hashtag #shareameal.
Jay Aldous, World Food Programme Director of Private Sector Partnerships, says: “Through this partnership, one million more school meals will make a real difference, now and in the future, to the lives of children in need of nutritious food.”
To date, the partnership has provided a total of two million school meals in many countries around the world.
