May 10, 2021
News
Millions of children, especially girls, around the world do not attend school because their families cannot afford it. Another tens of millions of them go to school hungry. This has negative effect on their concentration and school performance. The situation is twice as bad in conflict-affected countries compared to stable ones, in case of girls 2.5 times. We provided free school feeding for over 10 000 children from poor families in Iraq.
Difficult choice
Iraqis returning home after the war conflict are facing many difficulties. Apart from destroyed infrastructure also damaged livelihoods. Restoring sources of income such as farming or small businesses is complicated, expensive and takes a long time. Many poor families might prioritise food and health against education and children's well-being. Children then often help out in households, fields or family businesses, instead of going to school. Their families cannot afford sending them to school.
Empty stomach
There are many reasons why children might not feel good at school. Empty stomach is one of them, Children who go to school hungry focus less than their classmates and their school performance drops significantly. Thanks to the school feeding programme which Caritas Czech Republic runs in Iraq, the school attendance has risen and the overall school performance has also gone up.
Child labour
In Iraq, we run the school feeding in Daquq District in Kirkuk governorate. More than 10 000 school children from over 60 schools have joined the programme. We have managed to increase school attendance in Daquq, their performance as well as health and nutritional state. Another significant benefit of the school feeding programme is the decrease in child labour. The children who instead of working go to school also have brighter perspectives on the job market in the future. For girls, there is a lower risk that they will be married off too young.
World food programme
In Iraq, Caritas Czech Republic supports also restoration of livelihoods and thus increases the effects of the support. Linking the programme to local smallholder farm production also benefits local economy and new job creation. Our support of school children was funded by World Food Programme (WFP) through a 600 000 EUR grant. In 2019, over 17 million children around the world received free school meals from WFP. There are 73 million vulnerable children globally who are in need of free school meals.
