Tetra Pak expands support for
school milk programmes around the world
More than six billion food packages reach almost 50 million children worldwide
To mark World School Milk Day, celebrated today in more than 40 countries, Tetra Pak announces the expansion of its support for school milk programmes in Pakistan, Senegal, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gaza and the West Bank.
Through its Food for Development Office (FfDO) Tetra Pak works in close partnership with governments, development agencies, NGOs, local dairies and farmers to deliver more than six billion packages of milk and other nutritious drinks to almost 50 million children in schools in over 50 countries around the world. School milk programmes continue to grow, especially in developing countries, where the number of packages supplied to schools increased by 23% to almost 3.4 billion packages from 2008 to 2009.
“We are delighted to see school milk programmes growing across the world. The programmes are extremely important for improving the health, development and education of children, while helping to develop the agricultural sector and local economy in the region,” said Ulla Holm, Global Director, Tetra Pak Food for Development Office.
New school milk programmes
Pakistan
Tetra Pak is partnering with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) to provide milk on a daily basis to over 7,000 primary schoolchildren in 41 schools. A key aim of the programme is to improve local health and education levels and increase school enrolment. The programme has been credited with providing direct and indirect employment opportunities for more than 50 people and an increase in school enrolment from 5,200 to 7,000 children.
Gaza and the West Bank
Cooperating with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the World Food Programme (WFP), Tetra Pak supports the school milk programme in Gaza and the West Bank. The programme reaches 146,000 school children.
Ukraine
A new school milk pilot programme is underway in Kharkov, which supplies milk in Tetra Pak packages to more than 10,000 children every day. Tetra Pak also partners with the schools to run educational programmes on healthy lifestyles. Promoted by Olympic Champion Ekaterina Serebryanskaya, the children participate in morning exercises and collect empty packages for recycling. The aim is to expand this programme on a national level.
Senegal
Tetra Pak is supporting the start-up and operation of a school milk programme in partnership with the mayor of Dakar. Aimed at improving the children’s nutrition, attendance and academic performance in 11 elementary schools in Dakar, the programme is expected to expand and cover additional schools in order to support health and development initiatives, the dairy sector and rural employment.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
A new school milk programme is underway in partnership with the MilkoS dairy. Ten Sarajevo schools receive “S-cool milk” in a unique Tetra Pak school milk package which is not available commercially.
Read more about Tetra Pak's Food for Development Office
About World School Milk Day
World School Milk Day is an initiative established in 2000 and supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO) of the United Nations. FAO has played a co-ordinating role in collating information from list members regarding preparations for celebrating this Day. The goal of School Milk Day is to provide a particular day when attention is focussed on this issue and thereby promote such programmes. Importance is lent to the event by the fact that other countries are doing the same thing, on the same day, and that FAO is supporting the activity. http://www.fao.org/
For more information please contact:
Linda Bernier, Director Corporate PR, Cell: +39 348 145 4229
Helen Ireland, Weber Shandwick for Tetra Pak, Tel. +44 (0) 207 067 0352