Frequently asked questions

The School Meals Coalition is a government-led and partner-supported effort that aims at ensuring that by 2030 every child worldwide can receive a healthy meal in school. Led by Brazil, Finland and France, the Coalition was one of the most impactful and successful initiatives coming out of the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.

The Coalition is an example of a new generation of multilateralism;  It’s about governments and partners agreeing to join forces and work together to improve the quality, sustainability and scale of national school meals programmes and complementary interventions. It is about breaking silos and pooling resources – best practices, experience, information and technical support. Through its multisectoral and holistic approach, the Coalition addresses implementation bottlenecks, strengthens evidence for decision-making, provides opportunities for improved coordination and generates the political will and buy-in needed for change through advocacy. 

By submitting  national commitments, member countries determine their governments’ priorities for scaling up and/or improving their school meals programmes. These commitments are expected to guide national efforts on school meals until 2030. They will be implemented by the government with the support of the Coalition’s initiatives and partners. Furthermore, national commitments offer a way for external partners (donors, UN agencies, philanthropies and others) to see what countries are working on or hoping to improve and thereby channel support more effectively.  

The Initiatives of the Coalition are designed to tackle the main bottlenecks that countries face when implementing well-designed school meals at large scale. Each initiative is led or co-led by a Coalition member state or partner, composed of a variety of organizations and funded by several organizations (see below for more information on each initiative). Together, they form a network of support to countries and a global community of practice to help in the implementation of the country commitments. They contribute to creating a global community of practice for school health and nutrition, which has been neglected in humanitarian and development discussions.  

1. It is not a UN-led initiative. The Coalition is the product of government leadership (particularly Brazil, Finland, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Sweden, United States and the African Union, along with many others). WFP supports the Coalition by hosting the Secretariat and by providing overall backstopping. Other UN agencies that have signed a declaration supporting the Coalition include FAO, IFAD, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Nutrition and WHO. These agencies, along with more than 130 partners are engaging at all levels to support the Coalition and its member states, but do not lead it.    
2. It is not about funding. The Coalition does not: a) disburse resources for country action, b) manage funding for school meals programmes, and c) channel resources to governments or partners.  While significant amounts of financing will be needed to improve and scale up the programmes in most countries, the Coalition recognizes the sovereignty of Member States in leading on this. Through its Sustainable Financing Initiative, the Coalition supports governments to identify sustainable financing solutions and domestic funding arrangements, defined and handled at the country level by lead national institutions. Countries or partners that would like to support these efforts can join the Sustainable Financing Initiative.
3.  It is not about low-income countries only. While helping low-income countries establish and lead nationally owned and sustainable programmes is one of its main priorities, it is not the only one. The Coalition works with countries of all income levels on scaling up and improving their national school meals programmes. With many high- and middle-income countries members of the Coalition, these countries have identified school meals as a domestic priority and look to improve their own programmes.   

In joining the Coalition, a country can showcase its strong leadership and commitment to school meals on a global platform. The School Meals Coalition provides governments with a global network of support to strengthen their national school meal programmes and to accelerate progress in securing the health and nutrition of school children nation- and worldwide.  

Organizations can identify countries to support based on their needs and commitments, liaise with each other and find networks of support and/or help with different pieces of the Coalition’s agenda. They can also invest in or support research initiatives, document good practices or support any of the other initiatives including communications, advocacy and outreach.  

For governments, the main way of engaging in the Coalition is through its four initiatives, which are designed to help member states with the successful implementation and scale-up of their school meals programmes - improving programme quality and overcoming implementation bottlenecks. Countries can access the work of the initiatives (guidance, evidence, technical support) and can also support their work through technical and financial resources. The initiatives are led by partners and as they grow, they are becoming networks of support and leadership on various aspects.

Increasingly, the Coalition is also enabling meaningful exchanges of best practices through regional dynamics. So far, many regional events have taken place, including those of the Initiatives, during which regional school meal networks were created, countries shared best practices with each other, and supported each other’s commitments. 

As time goes on, the Coalition is becoming a powerful force of knowledge, evidence, advocacy and technical support, collectively advancing a joint agenda. Countries that are members have access to this network to provide and receive support. It is up to each country and partner to determine if and how they want to show their leadership and what kind of engagement they want to have.  

At global level, WFP acts as the Secretariat of the Coalition and serves as its coordinating body. WFP provides backstopping and support to member states and partners that are participating in the Coalition, maintains and develops relationships, and keeps members informed and connected. This includes outreach to new members and partners; organizing meetings and events; providing access to key documents, guidelines and other resources, while keeping stakeholders informed, empowered and motivated. They also lead and amplify advocacy and communication on behalf of Coalition members. The Secretariat also supports connecting the initiatives and their outputs.  

WFP leads the Data and Monitoring Initiative, which will sustain a global school meals database to track and monitor Coalition actions and accomplishments, as well as governments’ school meals implementation progress.

WFP works in partnership with other UN organizations like UNICEF and FAO on several of the initiatives at the global and country level, which jointly support the commitments with the UN’s strong footprint. For example, FAO and WFP are implementing a project supported by Germany under the Coalition to improve the quality of meals and support the diets of children and their families through the establishment of nutrition standards for school meals. UNICEF and WFP are working together in around 40 countries on school health and nutrition providing an integrated package of support to member countries. 

As a first step, the country will be requested to sign the Declaration of Commitment, to be signed at Ministerial or Presidential level. To sign the declaration of commitment, please write to the School Meals Coalition Secretariat global.smcsecretariat@wfp.org  

As a second step, countries are encouraged to make bold and strong National Commitments, which draw out clear, measurable actions the government will take towards achieving the goals of the Coalition. You can download the guidance on preparing and submitting a national commitment from the Coalition website. The guidance is available in English, French and Spanish. 

International organizations, civil society, academia, and UN organizations can join the Coalition by signing a Declaration of Support. The Declaration of Support is to be signed at CEO level, or the respective equivalent. For more information, email: global.smcsecretariat@wfp.org. 

Once the declaration of support is signed, partners of the Coalition will receive an official briefing, and consequently  invited to attend regular meetings and relevant thematic working groups, to discuss further steps on how they can support governments in developing and implementing national plans on school health and nutrition, as well as to explore ways  to collaborate with stakeholders in the Coalition’s initiatives. 

There is no mandatory financial contribution expected of Coalition members. 

Yes. Countries and partners can, for example, participate in the Coalition’s initiatives (outlined above), and support an objective to improve school meals programmes in their own country, or another country. 

In addition to the Secretariat, the School Meals Coalition consists of a Task Force, Working Group, and Partners Group.

You can find out more on our Governance page. 

The School Meals Coalition organizes two major events, namely 1) the School Meals Coalition Task Force Ministerial Meeting and 2) the Global School Meals Coalition Summit. These events take place every two years to showcase the progress of countries on school meals implementation to foster collaboration between governments and partners and announce new opportunities. Please find below further details. 

Every two months, the Coalition Secretariat organizes meetings with its Member States to discuss next steps and opportunities of engagement with the Coalition. These meetings envision the participation of the Permanent Representatives to the Rome-based Agencies, if available, and focal points of the Coalition assigned by each government. These meetings are opportunities for countries to engage in discussions and raise questions.

The Coalition also enables peer-to-peer exchange of best practices and joint advocacy efforts through regional networks being established under the leadership of countries. So far, two regional networks have been established, the Regional Network in West Africa, launched by ECOWAS and the Regional Network in East Africa, launched by Rwanda. 

Regional School Meals Coalition networks are being established under the leadership of countries, who organize workshops and events to exchange best practices on school meal programmes in their region. Learn more