Ref. Ares(2018)3415120 - 27/06/2018
Ref. Ares(2018)4147635 - 07/08/2018
Monthly Update on Milk for WFP Syria’s School Meal Programme
May 2018
Background
Since August 2014, WFP Syria, in cooperation with UNICEF and the Ministry of Education,
has been implementing a school meals programme aimed at encouraging enrolment and
regular attendance among pre-primary and primary school children in Syria. Initially
providing fortified date bars only, thanks to a generous contribution from the European
Commission, starting in the 2016-17 school year, WFP introduced UHT milk of European
Union origin as part of the meal provided to children.
Due to operational challenges linked to the nature of the commodity as well as the challenging
context in Syria, WFP maintained the possibility of channeling part of the milk quantities
through the General Food Assistance (GFA) programme as a contingency measure.
Implementation, May 2018
Procurement and shipments
WFP procured a total of 19,246.23 mt of milk for the academic year 2017-2018. Quantities
were procured in different packaging sizes (200 ml, 330 ml, 1 l), according with the production
capacity of the selected European suppliers. The procured milk commodity arrived in 95
shipments to Lattakia port, from November 2017 to April 2018.
Dispatches to schools
During May, WFP dispatched 1,946.188 mt of milk to schools in Damascus, Homs, Lattakia
and Rural Damascus. These quantities are estimated to benefit 361,597 children, based on a
daily ration per child of 400 ml of milk. Among those reached are children attending primary
schools in previously besieged Eastern Ghouta in Rural Damascus. Due to the change in
security situation in the area, WFP, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, has been
able to include them in its school meals programme, reaching these particularly vulnerable
children with the fortified full fat milk and date bars. While Eastern Ghouta is no longer
classified as besieged by the United Nations, it is still considered as a hard-to-reach area.
In addition, WFP reached vulnerable primary school children who benefit from
homeschooling at social centers (childcare centers, youth centers, orphanages, and centers for
children with special needs, among others) in Damascus, Rural Damascus and Lattakia
governorates.
Milk dispatches
Dispatched to Schools
Allocated to GFA
(mt)
(mt)
Quantity of milk dispatched in
May
1,946.188
-
Number of children
benefitting from the
361,597
-
dispatched milk in May
Cumulative quantity
dispatched since the
beginning of the 2017-18
17,406.208
1,831.691
school year
page | 1
Overall Achievements
As of the end of May 2018, some 19,237.899 mt of milk have been dispatched and the project
has been completed successfully.
Within the 2017-2018 academic year, WFP reached about 610,833 children in 12 of Syria’s 14
governorates. Children were reached under the school meals programme and through the
general food assistance programme (GFA) in areas accessible from inside Syria.
The overwhelming majority of children aged 6-12 years were reached through the school meals
programme, with a maximum of 462,776 children reached during April 2018. The allocation
of milk under GFA has accounted for less than 10 percent of the total quantity of milk procured
for the 2017-2018 school year.
Final Report
WFP will provide an overview of the milk project (June 2016- May 2018) in its final report,
which, as per agreement, will be due three months after the end of the Action (31 August 2018).
Photo Credit: ©WFP/Nour Jarrouj
Caption: During the 2017-2018 academic year, WFP provided fortified date bars and milk to
more than 450,000 school children
page | 2