Partnership Agreement with the Palestinian Ministry of Education on School Canteens Programme
Ramallah — UNIFEM and the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) signed a partnership agreement on 20 April on the implementation of the second phase of UNIFEM’s Socially Responsible Development through Women-Run School Canteens programme.
The signing ceremony, which took place at the Ministry in Ramallah, was attended by the Palestinian Minister of Education and Higher Education, Her Excellency Lamis Al-Alami, the UNIFEM Programme Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Alia El-Yassir, and the Deputy Representative of the Norwegian Representative Office to the Palestinian Authority, Stein Torgersbraten.
The initiative, funded by the Government of Norway, builds on a pilot project that was executed in 2008-2009, and will run until the end of 2012. Directly linked to the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan and forming part of the MoEHE national plan, the Women-Run School Canteens programme aims to develop a business model to promote rural women’s economic security and improve the health and livelihoods of marginalized communities.
In particular, the programme will support women’s centres and community-based organizations in running school canteens, by building the capacity and skills of rural women, and thereby enhancing their economic security through income generating activities, as well as contributing to improved nutrition and health.
In the second phase, 28 women's centres will take part in the programme by producing affordable and nutritious snacks and sell them in approximately 230 Palestinian schools. It is estimated that more than 85,000 students and more than 400 women will directly benefit from the programme.
For more information, please contact Julien Vaissier, UNIFEM Project Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, julien.vaissier[at]unifem.org.
Document Sources: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Subject: Assistance, Children, Education and culture, Food, Women
Publication Date: 22/04/2010