School lunches supported by the UN: the government has allocated nearly UAH 90 million for children in frontline communities
13 January 21:28
The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to allocate nearly UAH 90 million from the UN World Food Programme to feed primary school pupils in border and frontline communities during the current school year.
This was announced by Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Where will the funds go?
Funding will be provided to schools in eight regions that are regularly affected by the war:
- Dnipropetrovsk
- Zaporizhzhia
- Mykolaiv
- Odesa
- Sumska
- Kharkiv
- Kherson
- Chernihiv
The money will be transferred directly to local budgets and used within the framework of the current school meal program.
These are funds that the Ministry of Education and Science has raised to implement the school meal reform initiated under the patronage of First Lady Olena Zelenska.
According to Lisovyi, this decision is particularly important for schools operating in difficult security conditions, where stable nutrition for children often depends on external support.
What the reform entails
The school meal reform includes:
- modernization of school kitchens,
- staff training,
- expansion of the free meals program.
The goal is to provide hot meals to students in grades 1–11 in all regions of Ukraine starting in 2026.
The state continues to finance the reform with the support of international partners, the Ministry of Education and Science emphasizes, so that the basic needs of children remain protected even in wartime.
According to the government’s plans, starting in September 2026, all students in grades 1–11 across the country will receive free meals, regardless of their region of residence.
