| ||||
|
|
WFP, Sen. McGovern launch '"19 cents a day" campaign to assist hungry school kids worldwide
NEW YORK--The World Food Program has launched its "19-Cents-a-Day" campaign which aims to help feed some of the 300 million hungry children around the world who either don't go to school or don't receive a meal while in school.
"This holiday season we are hoping that Americans take time to reflect on the challenges faced by the severely poor, and generously donate to programs, such as "19-Cents-a-Day", which gives schoolchildren the education and nutrition to change their circumstances" said James Morris, executive director of WFP.
The "19-Cents-a-Day" campaign is so named because that is the average daily cost of feeding a child in school in a poor country. School feeding has proven to be a unique and practical tool for reducing children's hunger and improving their school performance.
On a full stomach, a student's ability to concentrate and learn is dramatically improved. When children are offered a meal in school enrollment, attendance rates go up dramatically and stay up; drop-out rates go down. WFP has documented enrollment increases of over 300 percent in some schools receiving its assistance!
The "19-Cents-a-Day" campaign was officially launched at UN headquarters by former U.S. Senator and Ambassador, George McGovern at a ceremony recently. McGovern is currently a WFP Goodwill Ambassador and in 1963 obtained $100 million in seed money from the Kennedy administration to found WFP.
During a speech, McGovern noted that school feeding not only helped to dramatically improve children's lives, but was an essential tool for bettering the world in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
"If you look at countries where there is 50 percent unemployment, where people can't get a decent house, or clean water, poverty is a fertile breeding ground for the Osama-bin-Laden's," McGovern said in reference to the terrorist leader. "I think we are going to discover that school feeding is going to reduce hunger and ignorance and terror."
"I do think that it's not only possible but it's a practical goal for countries of the world to set out to terminate hunger and school feeding is the greatest way to do that. I hope I live long enough to see a good nutritious lunch for each school kid in the world. I don't think that's unreasonable."
WFP is currently feeding nearly 16 million children in 64 countries. Individual children benefit from the investment of 19 cents a day, but so do their families, communities and societies as a whole. In countries where there is a minimum of four years of primary school education, for example, studies indicate farmers' productivity increases by almost 10 percent, a critical margin for poor, hungry families.
WFP programs have a special focus on girls' education. In areas where girls' enrollment rates are particularly low, girls' good attendance is rewarded with food for their families. The food offsets the loss of the girls' labor to her family and makes it affordable and attractive for parents to send their daughters to school.
Girls' education is one of the very best investments that families and communities can make for their social and economic futures. This is demonstrated in studies that indicate, for example, that girls who go to school end up having 50 percent fewer children and these tend to be healthier and better cared for and more likely to attend school themselves.
Between 1970 and 1995, child malnutrition rates fell by 44 percent. The International Food Policy Research Institute concluded that this remarkable improvement was attributable to increases in women's education.
"School feeding is an effective way to address some of the most basic social problems the severely poor face," Morris said. "For only 19 cents a day we can vastly improve the lives of children all over the world."
Date: 1/19/04
Copyright 1995-2008. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com
 
| |||||||||||||||||||||
