Determined to end hunger for African children, AfDB approves establishment of tens of millions of dollars fund

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the establishment of a fund to help end hunger and malnutrition among school-age children on the continent.

The African Development Bank has given the green light to the establishment of a fund to support school feeding programmes in target countries across the continent. (Source: AfDB)

The Ending School-Age Hunger (ESAH) Fund, approved on March 20, aims to support school feeding programmes in target countries in Africa by expanding existing initiatives and creating new ones, enabling more children to access nutritious food during their school days. At the same time, the fund aims to boost rural economies through increased agricultural productivity.

The implementation of the fund will be done in conjunction with the African Development Fund – AfDB’s concessional window with the participation of the Children’s Investment Fund Fund (CIFF), which has demonstrated its commitment by signing a $50 million commitment to support the establishment of the fund.

In September last year, CIFF and AfDB signed a letter of intent in which CIFF pledged to provide $50 million to establish the End School-Age Hunger Fund, witnessed by King Letsie III of Lesotho. The fund is also ready to contribute an additional $50 million after AfDB makes its initial contribution and AfDB seeks to attract other charities, such as the Aliko Dangote Foundation, to bolster the fund’s funding.

The ESAH Fund will focus on directly supporting school feeding initiatives across Africa, ensuring nutritious meals for children and creating growth opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises providing services related to these programmes.

At the appropriate time, the Fund is expected to provide essential technical assistance to governments, encouraging them to prioritize nutritious school feeding programmes as a key mechanism to enhance socio-economic development, ensure student retention in school, improve learning outcomes and promote social protection.

According to Dr. Beth Dunford, Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the AfDB, the ESAH Fund will be “committed to five years of implementation in the target countries.” This is a standard period for the bank’s investment projects, long enough to build real-world evidence to ensure the initiative continues to grow after the initial funding period ends.

CIFF is the world’s largest charity dedicated to improving the lives of children. Since 2004, the fund has received contributions and donations totaling more than $2.4 billion. Over the past 10 years, the fund has grown to $6 billion (2020), creating a huge opportunity to mobilize and exploit financial resources to serve the mission of supporting children around the world.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/quyet-cham-dut-nan-doi-cho-tre-em-chau-phi-afdb-phe-duyet-lap-quy-hang-chuc-trieu-usd-309428.html