Campus Report :
One million school children will receive nutritious biscuits, thanks to a generous contribution of 10,000 metric tons of wheat from the government of Bangladesh to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). To cover the costs of biscuit production, transport, distribution and monitoring, Australia has donated AUD1 million (Tk 7 crore) and the Federal Republic of Germany €544,000 (T k 5.7 crore).
“This contribution further demonstrates the Bangladesh government’s deep commitment to support and expand school feeding,” says WFP Representative to Bangladesh Christa Räder. “Our gratitude also goes to the governments and people of Australia and Germany, whose supportmeans we can turn this wheat into nutritious biscuits for schoolchildren across the country,in addition to monitoring the programme.”
Throughout Bangladesh, WFP supports 1 million children in primary and pre-primary schools, while the government reaches an additional 1.8 million children. The students receive vitamin-and-mineral-enriched biscuits every day at school. All the biscuits are produced in Bangladesh.
The distribution of nutritious food at school encourages children to go to class as well as maintaining parents’ support, which, in turn, improves enrolment and attendance rates. The food also alleviates short-term hunger, helping children to concentrate on their lessons, while providing them with the crucial vitamins and minerals thatthey may otherwise lack in their diet.
