PANAMA CITY (CMC):

Four Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have been included in the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) that aims to support countries in implementing and consolidating their school feeding and nutrition programmes.

Belize, St Lucia, St Kitts-Nevis and Suriname are among 17 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean included in the programme , created by the Brazilian government in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The other countries in the project are Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay that collectively represent approximately 81 million students.

RAES seeks to provide a space for dialogue among policymakers and technical experts on solutions and innovations needed in the region. It also offers technical assistance to support countries in the implementation and improvement of their programs, contributing to the promotion of the human right to adequate food.

This initiative, part of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme, was established in 2018 and is the result of collaboration dating back to 2009 between the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) and the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE) of the Ministry of Education (MEC), with the support of the FAO, which acts as the network’s executive secretariat.