The 2012 Global Child Nutrition Forum will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from May 13-18, 2012. On Sunday, May 13 and Monday, May 14, the Global Child Nutrition Foundation will hold intensive training on the GCNF Toolkit. These sessions will guide attendees through the process of design, implementation, and evaluation of school feeding programs in their home countries. During this time, delegates will also have an opportunity to share best practices from school feeding programs in their area schools.

Following presentations by high-level keynote speakers and panelists, is the field trip day. On this day, attendees have the opportunity to visit area schools to see the school feeding programs in action. In years past, this trip has helped attendees get a firm grasp on the work that needs to be done so all children may get a nutritious meal while at school.

The Market Place, which will take place after the school feeding field trip, demonstrates how participating Global Forum organizations fit into the home grown school feeding model by bringing the school feeding supply chain to life. The Market Place exhibits provide a visual representation of the processes food commodities go through, from farm to plate, and creates time for networking and meeting local vendors. The Market Place was well-received last year in Nairobi and this year promises to be another successful event.

For the third year, GCNF is co-hosting the Forum with the Partnership for Child Development, Imperial College London.

More details to come. Stay tuned to www.gcnf.org.

*Article written by Philomena Chege

The day was September 10, 2006. Njaa Marufuku Kenya project (NMK) secretariat led by Philomena Chege had gone to Ongata naado primary school to initiate a school meals programme for the school. There was so much excitement in the air, the children were excited, the parents were excited and apprehensive at the same time. They did not believe it would happen. They had dreamt about it for so long just to see their children go to school and stay there for the whole term and maybe even the whole year and perhaps even finish primary school. It was a daunting task. You see in 2003, the Kenya Government initiated free primary education and all children were eager to go to school but going to school was one thing but keeping them there on hungry stomachs was the next big challenge. And so the parents came all in their beautiful Masai shukas and they were attentive. Eventually, the question was asked. “Are you willing to support the school meals programme for your children?” And they all thundered YEE ! Which means Yes!, and that was the beginning of a successful NMK school meals programme in Kenya.

Njaa marufuku Kenya project (NMK) is a collaborative initiative of Agriculture sector ministries together with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Health. The project was started in 2005 with an aim of contributing to the reduction of poverty, hunger and food insecurity among the poor and vulnerable communities in Kenya.

The project has three components which are:

1. Support to community driven food security improvement initiatives. Under this component, farmer groups are empowered through capacity building and provision of small grants for up- scaling agricultural activities that focus on poverty reduction and income generation.
2. Support to community nutrition and school meals programmes
3. Support to private sector food security innovations. The component encourages non- governmental organisations and community based organisations to participate in poverty and food security initiatives.

Ongata Naado primary school was among the first 12 pilot schools selected in 2006 to start a school meals programme under the NMK component two. The component supports community based School Meals Programme (SMP) targeting pupils from poor homes with the aim of improving their nutrition status, class attendance and performances.  Schools are selected from medium potential areas where there is potential to grow food and therefore these schools become an entry point for disseminating agricultural technologies to increase agricultural productivity and enhance food security. The intervention also creates micro-markets for the community around the schools. This component has three approaches, namely, community-supported SMP; community nutrition education and awareness; and mother/child health and nutrition programmes. So far the project has funded 68 schools in different parts of the country.

Before the schools meals programme, enrolment, retention and completion rates were very low especially for girls. An increase in enrolment for girls is significant because the Masai being a pastoralist community, girls get married off early. Indeed by the age of 15 those not enrolled in schools or have dropped out of school are easily married off.

In Ongata Naado School, girl’s enrolment increased from 54 from the year 2006 when we started to 342 by the year 2011 which was remarkable. The mean score (a performance indicator) improved which meant that more pupils were able to transit to high school and eventually university.  Since then, other stakeholders have come on board to facilitate the school and now the school has a boarding dormitory for girls, a dining facility and a borehole supplying the school with water. The boarding facility has helped the school retain girls up to completion and this is a big step for us and the community.  The boarding project is a community initiative and has a capacity to accommodate 150 girls but the challenge has been equipping the dormitory because all facilities are donated by the community and well- wishers. It is their wish that one day they will accommodate the whole school both boys and girls.

School enrolment

Together with the school community, NMK has helped the school develop a 23 acre farm which acts as a demonstration farm for technology transfer to the community as well as producing food for the school. A solar power line was erected around the school garden and the boarding facility to keep away the elephants from the pupils and the farm. This has encouraged more pupils to enrol in the boarding facility.

When GCNF held their annual meeting in Nairobi Kenya in May 2011, one of the groups visited the school and donated some mattresses for the girls’ dormitory which was highly appreciated by the community. Subsequently, one participant’s daughter,  Eve Neely, was touched by the plight and determination of the girls and when she went back home to the USA, she managed to fund-raise $1,000  which will go a long way in equipping the dormitory with eight double decker beds  which will  accommodate sixteen more girls in the school. Such a noble action by Eve will ensure sixteen girls are facilitated to reach their full potential, perhaps excel in their future careers instead of early marriages. Kudos to Eve!

To celebrate the life’s work of three individuals who have made outstanding contributions to end child hunger and advance school feeding around the world, over 500 individuals came together from local and international non-profit organizations, industry, and government entities on Monday, March 5, 2012. During the Global Child Nutrition Foundation’s annual “A Possible Dream” Gala, Ambassador Tony P. Hall was honored as the ninth recipient of the Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award for Child Nutrition; additionally, 2011 SNA Director of the Year Lyman Graham and 2011 SNA Industry Member of the Year Tony Roberts were honored for their dedication to national child hunger issues.

The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center was the backdrop for an evening fueled by the desire to alleviate childhood hunger around the globe. Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator, spoke on the importance of school feeding programs and the Feed the Future initiative of USAID.

As the ceremony began, Gene White, GCNF President, announced the record breaking total raised for the “A Possible Dream” Gala of $365,000 with an additional $60,000 raised for the Global Child Nutrition Forum, which will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May 2012.

Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Ambassador of the US Mission to UN Agencies in Rome and incoming WFP Executive Director, flew from Rome to help honor Ambassador Hall. During her remarks, she noted the importance of school feeding programs around the world by saying, “we, in this room and all our UN partners, must continue to invest in interventions to reduce the sort of chronic and acute under-nutrition that I have seen around the world.” In tribute to Ambassador Hall receiving the Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award, Ambassador Cousin also proclaimed, “I am honored and humbled to have followed in his distinguished footsteps as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies.  A few years have gone by, but Tony’s name still evokes praise in the halls of IFAD, the World Food Program, and the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.”

2011 Global Child Nutrition Forum Speaker and 2012 Winston Policy Scholar, Philomena Chege, mentioned the impact SNA’s Legislative Action Conference had on her future work. “I have learned it is important to engage the local leadership … so when I get home I will do just that.” Philomena also added, “a hungry child cannot learn, they cannot exploit their potential. I urge you to join hands with us to curtail this problem.”

The evening program continued as two child nutrition leaders were recognized by School Nutrition Association President, Helen Phillips: Lyman Graham, as the 2011 SNA Director of the Year, and Tony Roberts, as the 2011 SNA Industry Member of the Year. These gentlemen have held long careers in furthering the health and well-being of children across the United States through their work in national school meal programs.

The Honorable Dan Glickman presented Ambassador Hall with the Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award. As Ambassador Hall accepted the award, he quoted Mother Teresa and noted her as inspiration in his efforts to alleviate childhood hunger. “What we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” Ambassador Hall continued by saying, “when programs effectively reduce absenteeism and increase the duration of schooling, educational outcomes improve across the board … Eliminating the scourge of childhood hunger is not something any of us can do alone. We need all hands on deck if we’re going to succeed in this.”

Anita Brikman, of WUSA Channel 9 News Now, gracefully ushered the evening’s program as the emcee.

This memorable event is held annually and raises both awareness and funds for GCNF’s efforts to combat global child hunger through sustainable school feeding programs. GCNF is grateful to the many sponsors and donors who came together to raise even more funding than in years past.

For more Gala coverage, visit:

http://www.gcnf.org/media-3/press/

http://usunrome.usmission.gov/

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Julie Burke

301.686.3133

gcnf@schoolnutrition.org

February 27, 2012

The Global Child Nutrition Foundation to Host Gala Event, Mon. March 5

Amb. Tony Hall, Exec. Dir. of the Alliance to End Hunger, to be honored.

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD –  The Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) is pleased to announce the 9^th annual “A Possible Dream” Gala to be held on Monday, March 5, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. The evening will honor champion of global child nutrition, Ambassador Tony P. Hall, Executive Director of the Alliance to End Hunger.

Distinguished guests and speakers scheduled to attend are: Ambassador Tony P. Hall, Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, Dr. Rajiv Shah, and the Honorable Dan Glickman. Anita Brikman of WUSA 9 News Now will emcee.

The annual “A Possible Dream” Gala honors outstanding champions of child nutrition. Each year, three awards are granted: the Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award for Child Nutrition; the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Industry Member of the Year; and the SNA Director of the Year. Over 500 executives come together—from industry, SNA, international NGOs, the U.S. Congress, USAID, USDA, and other key agencies working to reduce hunger—to network and exchange ideas. The Gala raises awareness of global hunger and helps GCNF to build sustainable school feeding programs in developing countries.

The Gala is to be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC from 7:00 – 9:00pm EST. For additional information please visit www.gcnf.org, or contact Julie Burke at 301.686.3133 or  gcnf@schoolnutrition.org.

GCNF is a USA based, 501 (c) (3) international foundation dedicated to helping countries develop and operate sustainable school feeding programs. Established in 2006 as the international arm of the School Nutrition Association (SNA), GCNF provides technical assistance and training to support the development of community-based school feeding programs that respond to nutritional needs of children, local cultures and community values. The GCNF Board of Directors, representing both domestic and international leaders in child nutrition, provides global perspective and policy guidance for directing resources to most effectively assist countries with policy and program development.

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Media Advisory 2012

On Thursday, February 2, GCNF President Gene White participated in a panel discussion with Tom Daschle (former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Distinguished Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress); Jo Luck (former CEO of Heifer International); and James Borel (Executive Vice President of DuPont) on Global Food Security hosted by DuPont at the Newseum in Washington, DC. The aim of the discussion was to address the critical issue of achieving global food security with a focus on specific and measurable goals to address food security issues. Former Wall Street Journal reporter Roger Thurow moderated this panel of distinguished experts.

More information and a recording of the panel discussion can be found at: foodsecurity.dupont.com.