The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, met with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
The meeting took place at a school in the Kyiv region, where Olena Zelenska and Roberta Metsola had the opportunity to see how the renovated canteen and kitchen, funded under the Ukraine Facility program, operate.
The President’s wife highlighted that, overall, thanks to EU subventions, Ukraine has been able to renovate and modernize dining facilities and canteens in more than 200 schools.
“For Ukraine, it is important that our European partners know their subventions are being used effectively to achieve all four key goals of the School Nutrition Reform: strengthening community capacity, renovating and modernizing kitchen facilities, developing human capital, and promoting healthy eating among children and their families,” Olena Zelenska said.
The First Lady stressed that both rural schools and schools in large cities are now equally well-equipped.
“This is the fundamental principle of the School Nutrition Reform: children from across Ukraine have the right to equal access to meals, and it should make no difference how small or how remote the community they live in may be,” Olena Zelenska added.
The President’s wife also emphasized that, currently, around 2 million children receive free hot meals. Starting next school year, the plan is to provide free lunches to all students in the country. To achieve this, 6,000 school kitchens need modernization, and more than 12,000 cooks need to undergo training.
“For Ukraine, this is not just about infrastructure. It is above all about children, their healthy future, and a secure present. We thank the European Union for helping us make this possible,” concluded the First Lady.