A group photo of distinguished guests with the performers in programe in Shanti Shiksha Mandir Mavi, on Tuesday. (Photo: SATV, Bishal Shrestha)

China Rural Development Foundation (CFRD) has organized seminar program on " Child Nutrition Status in Community Schools of Nepal" at Shanti Shiksha Mandir Mavi, a community school, located in Thaiti on tuesday to discuss the nutritional status of children in Nepali community schools on the occasion of first anniversary of the Smiling Children School Feeding Prgram.

According to a recent research, millions of children in Nepal are still unable to get basic education and nutritious food. Therefore, the China Rural Development Foundation has started a collaboration with the International Smiling Children School Feeding Project, which aims to improve the nutrition and education status of children in developing countries through food. This program is organised in 10 schools of Kathmandu and 25 schools around nation.

Honourable Rekha Sharma, Spokesperson of Government of Nepal from Ministry of Communications and Information Technology at the mid. (Photo: SATV, Bishal Shrestha)

Special guest of the programme, Honourable Rekha Sharma, Spokesperson of Government of Nepal from Ministry of Communications and Information Technology expressed that, "China has been a great friend and help in times of our need like earthquake. This project doesn't only count as infrastructural development but humanity development as well because nutritious food is very important in case of human development".

Mrs Sharma further added, " Nepal government had started this program from the remote area Karnali at the beginning and has the objective of expanding it further. China contributing to achieve the objective of Nepal government is very beneficial to Nepal. The Smiling Children School Feeding program which aims to address the problems of hunger faced by primary school children from poor backgrounds in developing countries is very praiseworthy".

A Photo of Mr. Chen Song and Mrs. Rekha Sharma inaugurating the program. (Photo: SATV, Bishal Shrestha)

His Excellency Mr. Chen Song, Ambassador of People's Republic of China to Nepal in his speech said that, " Smiling Children School Feeding Program is a pool wisdom to create a better future for children. We're happy to see that with great dedication of CFRD, the smiling Children School Feeding Program, with the view of providing meals or food to serve malnutrition children in developing countries, has benefited over 100,000 children around the world. The Smiling Children Program was one of the projects having vivid illustration of China's firm commitment to help Nepal to implement the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda".

Since healthy and nutritious food in government schools in Nepal improves the attendance rate of poor students and has a positive effect on improving the learning ability and physical and mental health of this group of children, (CFRD) has started International Smiling Children's School Feeding Project with the long-term goal of reducing hunger among school-age children and improving the quality of education.

The project is objected to reduce childhood hunger and improve the nutritional and health status of school-age children, to improve the learning ability of school-age children by promoting physical and mental health, to provide equal educational opportunities for all children, improve student attendance and reduce dropouts, to provide employment and livelihood opportunities to local women who are facing economic problems and to raise awareness about the importance of child nutrition among parents, school committees and the Government of Nepal.

Mr. Ram Prasad Subedi, Head of Education Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City giving his speech. (Photo: SATV, Bishal Shrestha)

Mr. Ram Prasad Subedi, Head of Education Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City presented, "The government of Nepal has been providing mid-day meals to the students for the past three years. Realising that the amount of lunch is a little less, Kathmandu Metropolis had added Rs.10 per student and has worked to provide lunch to students up to class 8 at the rate of Rs. 25. This amount is still insufficient. Upon it, the China Foundation has organized a mid-day meal as an additional support to the existing funds, which has not only boosted student's health but also increased the number of students in schools".

The project summarizes the experience of providing free school meals to strengthen stakeholders' practical support and concerns for students who lack adequate food, while the project will further increase the school attendance rate of school-age children from poor communities.

Mothers group in the program of Smiling Children. (Photo: SATV, Bishal Shrestha)

This one-day workshop and project anniversary event is expected to deepen the relationship between local authorities, school councils,mothers' groups and relevant partners through dialogue, knowledge sharing and experience sharing.

Some more glimpses of the program are:

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