Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, today announced the UAE School Meals initiative, a bold scheme to deliver free school meals to all public-school pupils nationwide by 2025.
Speaking during the First Global Summit of the Global School Meals Coalition in Paris today, the Minister revealed the national initiative in front of a gathering of global ministers and policymakers.
Almheiri said,
"We're going from zero to 100% by providing free, nutritious meals for all students at public schools within the next two years. This has been driven by the inspiration and information we have received from the School Meals Coalition. Providing free school meals is firstly about nutrition and ensuring a healthy childhood for every child in the UAE, but secondly, it is about influencing long-term behaviour; we know there is a clear link between nutrition and education."
She stated that the preliminary phase of the initiative's implementation would start in 2023–2024, while the full implementation and actual launch would start in 2024–2025.
"I could provide a student with a great school and great teachers, but if they're not getting the nutrition, we all know they can't absorb that education,"
she explained.
The Minister underlined the importance of enhancing educational quality and outcomes, especially in terms of economic returns.
She told the gathered global delegates that research reveals that for every dollar spent on a school meal, US$9 is saved.
"When a person is not getting good nutrition in the early part of their lives, later they risk getting sicker, which means you've lost that person's input in generating economic returns. Plus, there are health bills to consider,"
she explained.
In addition, Almheiri said that creating a new market for local farmers was a key driver of the new initiative.
"We are aiming to ensure at least 70% of food items for the new school meals initiative will be sourced locally and increase community-based job creation – with at least 30% of the workforce associated with this programme from low-income communities close to the schools,"
she added.
The Minister, who also acts as the COP28 Food Lead, highlighted how crucial the first 1,000 days of any child's life are, with plans to consider the nutritional needs of those in early school years, too.
Almheiri stressed that a key focus for COP28 will be Food Systems and transformation. She said,
"The UAE launched its COP28 Food Systems and Agricultural Agenda in July, an ambitious plan to transform global food systems and ensure their long-term sustainability. political will is essential to its success."
She added,
"The UAE has extended a global call to action, inviting all nations to sign the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Action. The Declaration was sent to nations through diplomatic channels, and we call on all delegates present to support it. COP28 will also see a food systems event taking place on every day of the conference, including a high-level segment on Education Day focused on school meals."
Almheiri concluded by thanking Finland, France, Brazil, and the World Food Programme for creating the School Meals Coalition, which aims to drive actions to urgently improve and scale up school meal programmes to ensure that every child can receive a healthy, nutritious meal in school by 2030.
The UAE was joined by Burundi, Egypt, Iraq, Luxembourg, and Tajikistan in bolstering commitments to provide free school meals during the Paris meeting.
Launched in 2021 at the UN Food Systems Summit, the School Meals Coalition comprises more than 70 countries and 75 partners, including United Nations agencies, civil society, the private sector and academia – all working together to drive actions to urgently re-establish, improve and scale up school meals and guarantee that by 2030, every child worldwide receives a healthy meal in school.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
