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COVID-19: Missing More Than a Classroom  notes that 370 million children worldwide – many of whom are reliant on school meals as a key source of their daily nutrition – have missed 40 per cent of in-school meals, on average, since COVID-19 restrictions shuttered classrooms.  “Despite clear evidence that schools are not primary drivers of COVID-19 infections, millions of children

“As a student who formerly benefited from the national school feeding programme, I still recall my happiness when receiving the meals and how we eagerly waited for this part of the school day.

As schools re-open, school health and nutrition programmes are more important than ever because they help stop children going hungry, ensure they get nutritious food,  provide powerful incentives for parents to re-enrol children in school, and increase retention rates, especially among girls.

“The funding shortfalls, which we were already facing due to the protracted nature of the refugee crisis in Rwanda, have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Ahmed Baba Fall, UNHCR’s Representative to Rwanda.

Rohingya refugees are more vulnerable than at any point since 2017. Latest assessments show that 96 percent of all refugees are moderately to highly vulnerable and entirely reliant on humanitarian assistance. This is largely due to the impact of COVID-19 and forced adjustments to humanitarian operations on a fragile community with limited income opportunities.

“I am heartbroken at what we’re facing in 2021. We now have four countries where famine-like conditions are present,” said WFP’s Executive Director David Beasley addressing WFP’s Executive Board on 21 June. “Meanwhile 41 million people are literally knocking on famine’s door. If you look at the numbers, it’s just tragic – these are real people with real names.

“I met women and children who were holding on for dear life, they’d walked for hours to get to our food distribution points. These were the ones who were healthy enough to make it,” said Beasley from a nutrition centre in the region. “There have been back-to-back droughts in Madagascar which have pushed communities right to the very edge of starvation.

The Tamwini app allows families to easily update – directly on their smartphones – their information for the Public Distribution System for food rations (PDS).

“The Ministry of Education is a longstanding champion of school nutrition, which is a pillar to help children stay in learning. It is proven that the school feeding programme is vital for achieving success in education, strengthening children’s focus and mental capacity.

    Countries can still deliver on the pledge to achieve zero hunger by 2030 despite the seismic events of the past year and the outbreak or threat of famine across multiple countries – this is the main message emerging from the World Food Programme (WFP)’s Annual Review for 2020. “The challenges of COVID-19 have been immense, but WFP’s determination to save lives and chan