Minister of Health A. Pečkauskas attends child nutrition event in Kyiv
Minister of Health Aurimas Pečkauskas 12-13 November attended the European Regional School Meals Summit (ERSMS) in Ukraine. Together with colleagues from other European countries, the Minister discussed measures to ensure healthy and nutritious meals for children in schools.
"School meals need to be attractive to children - currently only half of pupils in Lithuania eat at school, which means that the other half may not be getting the nutritious food they need to stay healthy. We should look for ways to make school meals more attractive by taking a broader approach, for example by creating an attractive environment in the canteen," the Minister said.
The Kyiv Summit acts as a platform for the exchange of best practices, highlighting the region's achievements and commitments to reinforce the importance of school feeding in supporting children's education, health and development.
Effective school feeding programmes require collaboration across sectors, from education to health and agriculture. The Summit highlighted the role of these partnerships, supported by government ministries, local authorities and international partners such as the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, in developing sustainable school feeding programmes.
The meeting is part of the School Food Coalition's mission to highlight Europe's role in achieving the ambitious goal of ensuring that every child receives healthy food at school by 2030.
The School Food Coalition is a global movement of more than 100 governments and 130 partners. Of these, 17 European countries are committed members of the Coalition, strengthening the region's role in this mission.