Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska met on Monday with government and local officials at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine to review progress on providing school meals, she wrote on her Telegram channel.
"This academic year is a special one. It marks the point where all schoolchildren are to receive free hot lunches. The state and the team of reformers have been steadily working toward this new stage of the school nutrition reform over the past few years, updating standards and outdated recipes, and modernizing kitchens and food preparation facilities. Initially, free lunches were provided to primary school students nationwide, followed by all schoolchildren in frontline regions. Now, the initiative extends to every child in every municipal school," the message reads.
At the direction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a comprehensive set of measures was implemented and a series of management decisions were adopted at the local level, making it possible to provide hot meals to over 2.7 million children directly at their schools. The effort involved numerous specialists and new staff members at each educational institution.
