WFP offers solutions for poverty and illiteracy in rural Upper Egypt CAIRO: In rural Upper Egypt, where poverty and illiteracy intertwine and are a sever hindrance to improving living conditions, targeting both problems in one plan is a practical solution. The United Nation's World Food Program (WFP) is currently working, in collaboration with Egyptian partners, on its Food For Education (FFE) project. "Providing food and an education to a poor child is the single most important thing we can do for the development of that individual and his or her nation, says James T. Morris, WFP executive director. Rural Upper Egypt has the lowest school enrollment rates in the country. According to WFP, there are strong regional disparities in poor areas, especially in Upper Egypt. For example, net female enrollment rates in Upper Egypt reached only 83 percent in 2002-03, according to UNICEF's basic indicators for Egypt. This phenomenon is parallel to poverty rates in the area, estimated at 34.2 percent. According to WFP, while only 27 percent of the country's population lives in this area, it is home to 55 percent of Egypt's poor. "Feeding school children has always been one of the most important ways of using food aid for education and is consistent with the first three UN Millennium Goals [eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; and promote gender equality and empower women], reads a local WFP publication. "Research confirms that basic education is the most effective investment to improve economies and create literate, self reliant and healthy societies, adds the publication. Research has also confirmed, it continues, "that the provision of lunch/snacks in schools significantly increases rates of enrollment and attendance and reduces dropouts. Benefits also include encouraging parents to send their children to school and improving children's diets, nutritional status and their academic performance. Such projects also create job opportunities, especially for women and low-skilled workers in the field of food production, processing and transport, says the publication. According to WFP, the current country program in Egypt (2002-06) is valued at about $50 million, of which the Food for Education component comprises over $11 million, according to the 2005 report. Through its different applications, the FFE project provides school meals and take-home rations for children attending primary schools. In affiliation with the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), WFP participates in the ongoing Girls Education Initiative (GEI) by providing food as an incentive for parents to send their children, especially girls, to school. "When [poor families] are confronted with the tough choice of educating only one or two of their children, parents often choose boys, reads a WFP report, "while girls stay at home to help with house work or on the farm. Culture and traditions in rural areas underestimate the value of girls' education in favor of early marriages and staying home. In some districts, the gender gap in gross enrollment rates is as high as 17 percent. WFP distributes monthly take-home rations of 12.5 kg of Rican and 3.7 liters of vegetable oil to any child who shows an 80 percent attendance rate throughout the school year. "Even in the season of harvesting when parents are inclined to use the help of their children on the farm, most are keen to avoid any absence that might cause a disruption in the monthly rations they receive, says one of the teachers in Nagaa El Maraay School in Sohag. While NCCM works in seven governorates within GEI, says Rania El Razzaz, WFP senior program assistant, WFP is currently engaged in three governorates: Sohag, El Menia and Fayoum. Since its introduction, the GEI has witnessed the opening of 440 schools and the enrollment of 11,391 students, 75 percent of which are girls, according to NCCM. When WFP joined the initiative in September 2004, it provided students in selected primary schools in these governorates with home rations, says El Razzaz. Continuous monitoring and evaluation ensure the program follows through with its goals. They also ensure "that the most vulnerable and food-insecure receive support, according to WFP. WFP has recently finished one of its projects in collaboration with the Egyptian government. According to Razzaz, WFP helped the Egyptian government provide school meals for students throughout the school year: 150 days. Originally, the government only provided meals in public schools for 100 days. WFP is also engaged in similar projects aimed at improving pre-school education and nutrition; pre-school enrollment rates stand at 10 percent in rural governorates in comparison to 25-42 percent in urban governorates. Under a state-planned project to increase early childhood education to 60 percent of the population by 2010, WFP will distribute fortified high-energy snacks (milk and biscuits) to around half a million children under the age of five over the period of five years throughout seven governorates. Another program encourages street children to get enrolled in schools. "I like staying here: I learn, I have many friends, I eat tasty meals and snacks throughout the day and even practice a good craft that I like, why should I go out? says Mohamed Saad, a 10-year-old resident of El Horreya NCO in Alexandria, one of the implementing partners for WFP's Children at Risk Project. Throughout its project, WFP works with partners from the public and private sectors. For example, it works with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in establishing bakeries and providing employment opportunities, while it supervises private companies responsible for production and delivery. WFP also works with several NGOs. Throughout its 2005 report, WFP commended the government's commitment to improving education in Egypt.
