International School Meals Day is celebrated on March 14 worldwide to raise awareness about the importance of children’s nutrition in the education process. To highlight the issue and raise public awareness in Georgia, the CSOs Education Coalition and Parents for Education hosted School Meals Week from March 14-19 with support from the USAID Civil Society Engagement Program.
The week opened with a School Meals Forum on March 14 and continued with awareness-raising events in Tbilisi and the regions of Georgia. At the forum, the Education Coalition presented the findings of its social lab discussions held in several regions of Georgia on free school meals models. During the panel discussions, representatives of CSOs and businesses, experts, schoolteachers, students, and their parents discussed existing challenges and the problem solutions. The conversation also focused on Georgia’s membership in the International School Meals Coalition and its related obligations.
On March 17, an information campaign was held in Tbilisi near the Freedom Square metro station. There, organizers distributed information leaflets, talked about the importance of school meals, and collected signatures in support of a national school meals program.
From March 18-21, participants from schools around Tbilisi and the regions hosted various activities in support of a national school meals program. Students and teachers prepared healthy meals for students, led information sessions, played games to highlight the importance of nutrition, and hosted other awareness-raising activities to bring attention to the issue.
