Media Update: United Nations Pakistan, 3 June 2025

This Media Update includes:

• WFP - PRESS RELEASE : SCHOOL MEALS TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN PAKISTAN WITH MULTI-STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION
• WHO - PRESS RELEASE: WHO and BISP treat annually 43,000 severely malnourished children in Pakistan, aim to expand their partnership

WFP

PRESS RELEASE

SCHOOL MEALS TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN PAKISTAN WITH MULTI-STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) jointly convened a high-level, two-day national consultation in Islamabad to advance coordinated efforts to implement school meal programmes across provinces.

This consultation was attended by Ms. Wajiha Qamar, Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training along with representatives from various federal and provincial departments including education, health, planning and development & social protection. Representatives from development agencies, private sector, academia and non-governmental organisations also participated in the event, unified by a shared goal: to ensure every child in Pakistan has access to healthy, nutritious food at school.

"With 25 million children out of school and many enrolled students struggling to learn due to hunger and malnutrition, the reality demands urgent action," said Mr. Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan. "By alleviating poverty-related barriers to education, the provision of meals encourages parents to send their children to school, reducing dropout rates and promoting gender equality."

The consultation concluded with a clear demonstration of political will from federal and provincial government representatives to expand school meals across Pakistan. The discussions were substantive and action-oriented, reflecting a growing national consensus that school meals are not standalone initiatives, but a strategic, multisectoral investment central to the country's development agenda.

The Government of Balochistan committed significant multiyear budget to be confirmed shortly and presented a detailed action plan, including support for children with special needs. Punjab pledged to expand school meals to more districts, while Sindh reaffirmed plans to launch a new school meals programme. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa committed to strengthening its cash-based model and exploring a school meals programme. Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir are also working to expand, exploring innovative financing solutions.

Ms. Wajiha Qamar, Minister of State, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, also addressed the consultation, affirming the government's commitment to institutionalising school meals as part of the broader education agenda. "We must scale up programmes nationwide, learn from each other's experiences and good practises to ensure that every child in Pakistan has access to a daily meal at school. This is not just a programme or a project, it is an investment in our children, our communities and our country's prosperous future," she added.

"Not only did this consultation reaffirm that school meals are a powerful, transformative tool to bring children to school, keep them there, and give them a fair chance to learn, grow, and succeed - it also helped secure concrete commitments from provincial and federal representatives for the next five years" said Coco Ushiyama, WFP Representative and Country Director in Pakistan.

Investing in school meals is especially critical in the context of Pakistan. School meals offer a powerful, multi-sectoral solution, improving children's nutrition and health, increasing school attendance, enhancing learning outcomes and easing the financial burden on low-income families. These efforts align closely with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's declaration of an education emergency last year and the urgent national priority to bring every out-of-school child into the classroom.

This event builds on the first national consultation held in 2022, which followed Pakistan's signing of the Global School Meals Coalition in 2021. It also serves as a key preparatory milestone ahead of the Global School Meals Summit in Brazil this September.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @WFPPakistan

For more information, please contact:

Anam Abbas, WFP/ Islamabad, anam.abbas@wfp.org

WHO

PRESS RELEASE

WHO and BISP treat annually 43,000 severely malnourished children in Pakistan, aim to expand their partnership

3 June 2025, Islamabad, Pakistan - The World Health Organization (WHO) and Pakistan's Benizair Income Support Programme (BISP) met yesterday to expand the partnership through which they provide each year life-saving treatment to 43,000 children under 2 years old affected by severe acute malnutrition with medical complications in 169 nutrition stabilization centres (NSCs) across the country.

The meeting included a visit to the stabilization centre located at the Federal Government Polyclinic, Islamabad, ­­led by BISP's Chairperson, Senator Rubina Khalid, and WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo.

"I am truly thankful to the World Health Organization for this valuable partnership. BISP is working across Pakistan, and with WHO's support, we aim to reach even more vulnerable families. We want to strengthen and expand our efforts so that no mother or child is left behind. When we work together, success becomes possible. We will continue to hold more interactive meetings and awareness sessions to reach people through counselling and support. Stunting is not just about physical growth - it also affects a child's mental development. That's why we must act early and work together with dedication. Healthy mothers and children are the foundation of a strong and prosperous Pakistan. This is not just an option - it is our responsibility," said BISP's Chairperson, Senator Rubina Khalid.

Under the umbrella of the Benizair Nashonuma programme to combat stunting and malnutrition, WHO-supported centres funded by BISP have treated 46,000 children since 2022 and provided counselling to over 64,000 mothers and caregivers. In 2025, WHO will provide support to 199 centres - 169 of them funded by BISP - to treat close to 80,000 children under 5 per year, while providing counselling to 120,000 mothers and caregivers. During almost two decades, WHO has been supporting nutrition stabilization centres across Pakistan to save the lives of children that otherwise would have died.

The percentage of children cured in the stabilization centres amounts to over 98%, far exceeding the minimum international standards of 75%.

"A 98% cure rate is an excellent result and it reflects the good work, but even a single child lost to malnutrition is already one too many. These children are not just numbers; each of them has a story, and a family with dreams for their future. WHO remains fully committed to continuing and expand our collaboration with BISP and partners to reach every child and address new challenges such as climate change, which is exacerbating acute malnutrition in Pakistan. We are thankful and proud to partner with BISP to save the lives of the most vulnerable children," said WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo.

WHO works in close collaboration with Pakistani national and provincial authorities, medical facilities, and other UN agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, on the early detection of cases. Thus, WFP works in the prevention and detection of cases in the communities and refers them to WHO - if the case is severe - or to UNICEF, which supports the outpatient services. When required, UNICEF will refer the case to WHO. Besides this referral system, families also go directly to the emergency room or their closest nutrition stabilization center with their child already in bad condition.

WHO's support includes, among others, technical guidance, human resources, operational assistance ­- comprising infrastructure and the provision of therapeutic supplies, the promotion of best practices, and evidence-based counselling.

Pakistan remains among the ten countries in the world with more than half of the under-5- year population suffering from either stunting or wasting, or both. The prevalence rate of stunting amongst children under five is 40 percent - totaling 10 million stunted children - and that of wasting is 17.7 percent, resulting in 5 million wasted children.

The cost of inaction would be far greater than the cost of action. In addition to the loss of lives, acute malnutrition - which in Pakistan is being exacerbated by climate change - is hampering the Sustainable Development of Pakistan, causing an annual economic loss of USD 17 billion -equivalent to 6.4% of the country's Gross National Income (GNI).

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For additional information, please contact:

Maryam Yunus, National Professional Officer - Communications, WHO Pakistan, yunusm@who.int

José Ignacio Martín Galán, Head of Communications, WHO Pakistan, jomartin@who.int

About WHO

Founded in 1948, WHO is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners, and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. We work with 194 Member States in 150+ locations - so everyone, everywhere, can attain the highest level of health. For more information, visit https://www.emro.who.int/countries/pak/index.html. Follow WHO Pakistan on Twitter and Facebook.

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