IPHD provides American food commodities donated by USDA to almost 500,000 primary and pre-primary or kindergarten children in prepared meals daily.  In the Congo Republic, IPHD feeds 140,000 children, including pygmy children in Lekoumou Province.  In the Republic of Moldova, previously a part of the Soviet Union, IPHD provides food daily to over 300,000 primary school children, one of the largest school lunch programs supported by U.S. foodstuffs in the world.  The program will be transitioned successfully to the Moldovan Government in the coming year.  In Guinea-Bissau, IPHD feeds 56,000 primary school children and 2,000 pre-school children in the northern and central regions of the country, which is the world’s seventh poorest country.

Since IPH began its school lunch program in 2001, it has distributed over 125,000 metric tons of U.S. food, and over 4,000 metric tons of locally produced foods.

School lunch programs contain other components.  IPHD operates malaria prevention programs through schools in the Congo Republic and Guinea-Bissau, school repair projects, purchase and distribution of text books, development of water systems for schools, and many other projects.  In Moldova, using US-donated bread flour, IPHD contracted with pasta makers annually since 2002 to produce 16,000 tons of pasta for distribution through schools.

IPHD has seen dramatic changes in the health and well-being of the children enrolled in its school lunch programs.  In addition, IPHD has helped to develop and strengthen almost 1,000 parent/teachers associations and groups.

This is a very successful program, one that requires more support to help further improve the health of primary school children.  IPHD also would like to expand this program to Niger and the Central African Republic in the coming year, if support can be found for this expansion.