On 18 July, the Office for the First Lady of Ukraine convened an event in Kyiv to launch a case study by the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition on Ukraine’s national school meals programme.

The event, which was hosted by Ukraine’s School Nutrition Reform Office – an initiative jointly launched by the First Lady and the Government of Ukraine in 2020 to strengthen school meals provision in the country – saw some 300 participants come together to reflect on Ukraine’s progress in improving the coverage and quality of its school meals throughout the last four years. Contributors included Ukraine’s Minister of Health, Deputy Minister of Education, and Deputy Minister for the Economy, as well as several academic, UN, and diplomatic partners.

Central to the discussions were the results of the ‘National School Meals Case Study: Ukraine’ developed by the Research Consortium’s Good Examples Community of Practice in partnership with the School Nutrition Reform Office, National Foodservice Association, UNICEF, WHO Ukraine, and WFP. The study documents how Ukraine’s school meals programme is organized, funded and monitored, and identifies best practices and areas for continued strengthening – such as establishing culinary hubs to train employees of school food programmes using newly developed materials and curricula.

In the time since the School Nutrition Reform Office was launched, Ukraine has faced both the outbreak of COVID-19 and ongoing conflict – both of which continue to have drastic negative impacts on the health, wellbeing, and education of its children. Recognizing the need for urgent action, Ukraine announced in October 2023 that it would join the School Meals Coalition, renewing momentum towards its National School Nutrition Reform Strategy.

Since then, the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition has worked closely with the School Nutrition Reform Office to provide evidence and guidance in support of scaling up the national programme towards universal coverage, meaning every child in Ukraine would receive a nutritious meal at school. Alongside the national case study, members of the Research Consortium led on the development of a recent WHO policy brief which charts the path towards universal coverage during times of war.

In his opening remarks at the event, Research Consortium Director Professor Donald Bundy said: “School meals have a long and well-documented history of deployment by governments in response to social shocks and conflict, as seen in Finland, Sweden, and Japan following World War II. By providing every child with access to a reliable, nutritious meal, countries experiencing conflict can not only address the hunger and food insecurity faced by many families today, but can also give children the best chance of fulfilling their learning potential, helping them to flourish tomorrow.”

To read more about the event, please visit: https://bit.ly/4d9nDzL