Enriched biscuits for 300,000 pupils<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta<\/p>\n
About 300,000 elementary school students in the country,
\nparticularly those who live in conflict areas, will soon be given
\na daily ration of 50 grams of enriched biscuits at school, as
\npart of the UN World Food Program's (WFP) three-year plan to help
\nthe government alleviate malnutrition in the country, the WFP
\ndisclosed on Sunday.<\/p>\n
According to WFP's country director Mohamed Saleheen, teachers
\nwill distribute the biscuits directly to pupils, who must eat
\nthem in class.<\/p>\n
The program will start in August, and by the year's end it is
\nexpected that 300,000 students will have benefited from it.<\/p>\n
\"For Rp 2,000 (U.S. 19 cents) we can provide one child with
\nfortified biscuits that will energize them at school,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Saleheen said children in Poso, Central Kalimantan, Maluku,
\nNorth Maluku, West Kalimantan, Aceh and East Nusa Tenggara would
\nbe the main recipients of the additional food. During the peak of
\nconflicts in the areas, more than 1.4 million people were forced
\nto flee their homes.<\/p>\n
\"Attendance rates and student performance can be increased
\nsignificantly by the availability of extra food at school.
\nChildren no longer need to worry about food and can concentrate
\nmore on their lessons -- and stay for the whole session,\" said
\nSaleheen, after officiating a fund-raising program in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Together with TNT Indonesia Express and Logistics, the WFP
\norganized a walk on Sunday, in which more than 500 people
\nparticipated.<\/p>\n
\"All the money raised from the walk will be used to help
\nIndonesian children. So it will be an activity supported
\nby Indonesians, for Indonesians,\" said managing director of TNT
\nIndonesia, Colin Moran.<\/p>\n
According to Saleheen, the biscuits for the students are
\nlocally produced.<\/p>\n
\"Other programs we run here are to provide raskin (cheap rice)
\nfor the poor. At the moment, we are helping some 1.7 people in
\nslum areas,\" Saleheen told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The WFP will also provide nutritious meals for expecting
\nmothers, he said. Those programs, as well as the school feeding
\nprogram, will continue until 2007.<\/p>\n
When the Post left the event at about 10 a.m., the money
\nraised had reached Rp 76 million and a higher figure was
\nexpected.<\/p>\n
\"We are hoping that this year we can help between 200,000 and
\n300,000 new children for the whole year in Indonesia,\" said
\nMoran.<\/p>\n
According to the National Economic Survey held by the Central
\nStatistic Agency (BPS), malnutrition among children under the age
\nof five reached about 27 percent in 2002, among the highest in
\nthe Asia-Pacific region, along with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.<\/p>\n
Under its three-year plan, the WFP will implement a $115.36
\nmillion project called the Assistance to Recovery and Nutritional
\nRehabilitation program.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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