How many children are benefiting from the World Vision school feeding program in Afghanistan?
World Vision Afghanistan’s Food-for-Education program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), finished its fifth successive year in December 2008. In 2003, before the program began, the Afghanistan Ministry of Education reported that fewer than 9,000 girls and only 27,000 boys attended school the western provinces of Badghis and Ghor. As a result of the program, school attendance has grown incrementally to 80,807 students in 266 schools. One of the program’s greatest successes has been the increase in the number of girls attending school. In 2007, more than 23,000 girls were attending schools participating in World Vision Afghanistan’s Food for Education program – the highest number of girls attending school in Badghis and Ghor in the past 20 years. Discuss what effect the meals have had on the children in terms of school attendance, performance and nutrition. School attendance in Badghis and Ghor, particularly by girls, has improved significantly as a result of the Food
