Cross-Sectoral Transformation

There is overwhelming evidence that well-designed and effectively delivered school meal programs – especially when implemented with complementary health programs – have the potential to drastically improve learning outcomes. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, school meal programs represented the largest global safety net, with one in every two school children receiving school meals every day in at least 161 countries from all income levels. However, school closures during the pandemic left 370 million children without access to their daily school meal. Restoring lost provision and expanding access is critical, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable children at risk of being left behind.

Governments should prioritize and invest in school meal programs to build back more sustainable education systems that prioritize the wellbeing of the learner. They are one of the most effective interventions available to transform education outcomes. School meals are cost-effective and produce returns across multiple different sectors, including education, health, agriculture, and social protection with $9 in returns for every $1 invested. They can improve learning outcomes, promote health and wellbeing, support local food production and economies, and support families’ efforts to counter the current threats to the food system and supply chain. Above all, school meals can protect children from the debilitating effects of hunger, enabling them to realize their potential.

The School Meals Coalition was launched at the United Nations Food Systems Summit in September 2021 under the leadership of Finland and France to prioritize school meals in government financing. More than 65 countries from the global North and South together with nearly 70 partners (including UN agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and academic partners) came together to improve and restore school meals programs as a transformational platform for food and education systems.

The Education Commission, with its strong links to the Global Education Forum, is leading the Sustainable Financing Initiative for School Health and Nutrition (SFI), one of five initiatives under the School Meals Coalition, to work with governments and donors to research and implement sustainable financing solutions to expand school feeding programs. Read the new SFI paper School Meals Programmes and the Education Crisis: A Financial Landscape Analysis.

If you or your organization would be interested in partnering with the SFI, please email SFI-SMC@educationcommission.org

Education is both a climate vulnerable sector and a climate solutions sector.

Extreme storms and flooding cause costly damage to essential education facilities. Heatwaves and drought make it harder for children to learn. And because climate change is a threat multiplier, marginalized populations who are hit hardest by climate impacts – including girls, children with disabilities, refugees, and other minorities –suffer the most.

But education is a crucial building block for climate resilience and adaptation. Education builds the necessary knowledge of climate change, its impacts, and its solutions. Education builds the necessary breadth of skills –from critical thinking to coding to caring – for learners to engage in climate action, work toward climate justice, and drive green innovation across all sectors of society and the economy.

Education unlocks the individual and collective transformation needed to tackle the climate crisis.

Yet globally, the links between education and climate change have been largely ignored.

This is why the Education Commission is committed to integrating a climate lens across its education transformations, and why we are working to support countries to accelerate their commitments and actions around education for climate action.

The Education Commission is analyzing the evidence of connections between climate and education for decisionmakers, identifying opportunities and levers for climate action that support climate vulnerable countries’ adaptation and sustainable development goals, and amplifying best practices for rapid adoption and localization at scale.