15/10/2014

In commemoration of World Food Day on 16 October, Unilever, through Royco, collaborates with the United Nations World Food Programme (UN-WFP) in making efforts to eradicate hunger through the Home-Grown School Meals program.

Jakarta, 15 October 2014 - In commemoration of World Food Day on 16 October, Unilever, through Royco,, collaborates with the United Nations World Food Programme (UN-WFP) in making efforts to eradicate hunger through the Home-Grown School Meals program by providing one million school meals for schoolchildren in Indonesia, The Philippines, and Kenya, and invites people to participate in supporting the partnership between Unilever and UN-WFP by pledging their support through the official UN-WFP website http://www.wfp.org/pledge(Link opens in a new window) .

Paul Polman, CEO Unilever said, "Improving livelihood and positive social impact are key elements in our Sustainable Living Plan, including our responsibility for resolving global matters such as food security and poverty alleviation. The partnership between Unilever and the UN-WFP on World Food Day is an initiative that will help to drive positive long term changes and gives children access to nutritious food that will help them to fully develop their life potentials".

Each year, 3.1 million or 45% of the world's children below five years die because of malnutrition. One out of six children - around 100 million - children in developing countries is underweight. One out of four children in the world has abnormal growth. In Indonesia, the problem is lack of nutrition intake in the morning (breakfast). Around 20% - 40% of Indonesian children are not used to eating breakfast and around 69.6% of Indonesian children do not get nutritious breakfast. These facts show that many schoolchildren experience short-term hunger.

Asep Haekal, Senior Brand Manager Royco PT. Unilever Indonesia, Tbk said, "Unilever believes that every child has the right to get a balanced nutrition for growth and development. Therefore, on this year's World Food Day, through Royco, Unilever will help to eradicate hunger and provide nutritious meals that are within reach of more people by providing one million homegrown school meals for children who need it. The Home-grown School Meals program will be able to overcome the short-term hunger problem.

Furthermore, Haekal explained that the partnership between Unilever Indonesia and the UN-WFP to eradicate hunger has been ongoing from 2007 to the present. Until July 2013, through the Laser Beam project, 10,000 children from 51 schools get meals three times a week through the Local Food Based School Meals Program. 
This program also encourages teachers and local farmers; it has trained 1,384 teachers and members of cooking groups to prepare school meals with local food ingredients that are more nutritious and hygienic. Moreover, 100% of the corn and nuts used for cooking are bought from local farmers. These school meals do not just provide better nutrition for schoolchildren, but also offer incentives for attending classes and obtain education for a brighter future.

"We hope the partnership between Unilever Indonesia through Royco and the UN-WFP will have a positive impact on efforts to eradicate hunger, especially in Indonesia. Therefore, we invite Indonesian people to participate in supporting the Home Grown School Meals program by pledging their support on the official UN-WFP website http://www.wfp.org/pledge(Link opens in a new window) ", Haekal concluded.

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