Washington, DC — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes four awards totaling US $110 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support critical school meals programmes across Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Laos, and Rwanda. The funding will benefit nearly half a million children and their communities in more than 1,600 pre-primary and primary schools across the four countries. WFP has received the awards through a competitive process operated by USDA's McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (McGovern-Dole), which has a long history of supporting WFP's efforts to promote food security and improve education.

In each of the four countries, the award will fund a five-year initiative aimed at improving education, nutrition, and health for children - particularly girls - through collaboration with national and local governments and community partners. In addition to a donation of U.S.-grown food, the awards include nearly US $11 million allocated to procure local and regional produce for school meals. As part of its long-term strategy, WFP works with governments to improve the scale and quality of school meals programmes and has supported 50 countries to transition to nationally run initiatives.

"These generous awards from the USDA McGovern-Dole Program are game changers for children in Ethiopia, Laos, Rwanda, and Bangladesh and underscores the U.S. commitment to combating global hunger and promoting education," said Matthew Nims, the Director of WFP's office in Washington, D.C. "School meals not only encourage children to come to and stay in school where they can learn, but they also improve nutrition, promote gender equality, and benefit the wider community by supporting local agriculture and markets."

Through its McGovern-Dole Program, named after former U.S. Senators George McGovern and Robert Dole, the United States is the largest donor to WFP's school meals programmes globally.