Session Overview

This Ministerial Session will highlight how governments are scaling up school meals investments to drive food systems transformation and advance multiple Sustainable Development Goals. It will showcase innovative financing options that enable governments to expand and improve school meal programmes. It will illustrate how the School Meals Coalition’s new approach to multilateralism delivers results for people most in need. The session will also serve as a key milestone towards the School Meals Coalition Global Summit in September in Brazil. The session will take a food systems approach by positioning school meals as a strategic, multisectoral investment that connects agriculture, nutrition, education, and social protection. It will highlight how school meal programmes drive systemic change by linking local food production to public procurement, improving child nutrition and learning outcomes, and acting as a platform for coordinated public investment.