NABLUS, October 21, 2009 (WAFA)– The UN World Food Programme (WFP) launched Wednesday the 2009/2010 School Feeding programme in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), in the presence of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Lamis Al-Lami.

WFP's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Daly Belgasmi, attended the launch event organized at Al-Huda kindergarten and Asira Shamaleea Boys School in Nablus, West Bank,.

The School Feeding programme, now in its fourth year in the West Bank and its second year in Gaza, provides some 156,000 students with nutritious snacks prepared and produced locally to enhance the attention span of children in school and improve grades.

“This programme not only provides an additional social safety net for vulnerable families, but also supports the local economy through providing biscuits prepared by local women’s centres and bakeries as well as milk produced by Palestinian dairies,” Belgasmi said. “In addition to the project’s positive effects on school performance, it also supports unskilled workers and local businesses,” he added.

The impact of the programme is strengthened through the provision of nutrition and health education by the schools involved in the project.