Bishkek – September 8, 2022 – During the 2022-2023 school year, more than 24,000 schoolchildren will receive hot, nutritious meals prepared with the 40 metric tons of vitaminized sunflower oil that recently arrived in the Kyrgyz Republic. This oil will be distributed to over 120 rural primary schools in the Chuy, Osh, Batken and Jalal-Abad provinces. In total, 500 metric tons of food commodities, including flour, rice, peas, and lentils, will be delivered between September and October from the United States to Kyrgyz primary schools.
The sunflower oil delivery is part of the five-year McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) financial support, in partnership with the Kyrgyz Republic’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education and Science.
During the program’s 2022-2023 school year, in addition to food commodities, over 120 rural primary schools will benefit from kitchen renovations and modern equipment to prepare hot meals for their students. The program will also support school water and sanitation infrastructure rehabilitation to ensure the health and safety of students and teachers, and school personnel and parents will receive training critical to improving the diet, health, and nutrition of Kyrgyz children.
Over the course of five years, the McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program will reach more than 400 schools and 100,000 children across the Kyrgyz Republic’s six provinces.
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Mercy Corps is an international non-governmental organization that has worked in the Kyrgyz Republic since 1994. Mercy Corps has been implementing the USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in the Kyrgyz Republic since 2012. The new round of the five-year program runs from 2021-2026. For more information please visit: https://www.fas.usda.gov/programs/mcgovern-dole-food-education-program
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