CAIRO: The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) signed a new partnership agreement today with Star Care Egypt Foundation- established by Mercedes–Benz in 2008 to provide school meals to vulnerable children in community based schools in Assiut, Upper Egypt. The 800,000 Egyptian Pounds ($150,000 dollars) Mercedes-Benz grant will be used to purchase a daily morning snack to fight short-term hunger and increase the cognitive capacity of targeted children, in addition to a monthly take-home ration of rice. The take-home rations are an incentive for poorer families, to encourage them to send their children to school regularly. “WFP food-for-education activities are part of a wider 5-year Country Programme which aims to enhance the nutritional status of women and children,” said Gianpietro Bordignon, WFP Egypt Representative and Country Director. “The distributed snack is fortified with all the necessary vitamins and iron, addressing around 25 percent of the child's nutritional daily needs, while the take-home rations act as a conditional cash transfer, constituting about 20 percent of the family's monthly expenditure on food,” he added. The project will benefit approximately 2000 children who attend 80 community schools in the vulnerable district of Manfalut in Assiut, and the take-home ration directly benefits around 10,000 of their family members. Mike Nolte, General Manager of Star Care Egypt, Mercedes-Benz, highlighted that this project reflects the core philosophy of Star Care and “represents a perfect addition to our other ongoing children support programs in Egypt, underlining the strong commitment of Star Care Egypt to improve health and education for less privileged children in Egypt,” he said. “We are very proud and excited about our new partnership with WFP to ensure the continuous success of this important support program for children in need.” The project ultimately supports the Government's efforts to improve the quality of education by 2015, in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. BM
