With an estimated 418 million children currently benefiting globally, school meals are one of the most widespread social safety nets in the world.
In 2021, the World Food Programme, in partnership with the World Bank, launched the School-based Programmes Impact Evaluation Window to generate a portfolio of impact evaluation evidence to inform policy decisions and programmes.
Since then, five experimental impact evaluations have started in The Gambia, Jordan, Burundi, Guatemala and Malawi. With the first wave of impact evaluations concluding in 2024, WFP and its technical partners are currently exploring the feasibility of new programmes and countries to join the Window.
This short brief presents some of the emerging findings from the ongoing impact evaluations and articulates the questions and evidence priorities for impact evaluations within the Window moving forward.
