Russia contributes US$ 2 million to school feeding in Tajikistan

“Caring for the younger generation of Tajikistan is one of our priorities. Russia has already allocated more than US$ 82 million towards school feeding in the country in the spirit of alliance and strategic partnership that have been linking our countries for 30 years,” said Minister-Counselor, Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Tajikistan, Shamil Foatovich Shamsutdinov.

“This contribution is very timely for Tajik schoolchildren. Thanks to the close partnership with the Government of Tajikistan and the continued support from the Russian Federation, WFP has been providing healthy, nutritious school meals to children through the school feeding programme, contributing to their growth and development,” said Adham Musallam, WFP Representative and Country Director. “WFP also provides technical support to the Ministry of Education and Science in the management and coordination of the school feeding programme throughout the country.”

The school feeding programme is WFP’s largest operation in Tajikistan, which has been funded by the Russian Federation since 2013.  Under this programme, nutritious meals are provided to schoolchildren in grades one to four across 2,000 schools in 52 districts and towns of the country. In 2021, with the financial support of the Russian Federation, the country’s schools received 7,000 tons of food to prepare school meals for some 440,000 schoolchildren.

The programme also contributes to the modernization of schools’ infrastructure. A total of 50 school canteens have been repaired and equipped with modern equipment, and nine greenhouses, five interschool bakeries and one food processing factory have been built. Additionally, eight private bakeries have been equipped, which also work with schools.

Since 2013, the Russian Federation has allocated US$ 82.1 million to WFP for the implementation of the school feeding programme, US$ 54 million of which has gone towards food assistance and US$ 28.1 million for school infrastructure modernization.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Russia is a strategic partner of Tajikistan in the field of humanitarian assistance.