Support School Feeding Programme; Osafo Marfo appeals, as GNCCI donates
Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, the Senior Minister, Tuesday, urged private sector organisations and individuals to support the Government’s social interventions such as the School Feeding Programme (SFP) with donations.
He said not all of society’s problems should be placed on the Government but their resolution should be shared among as the better endowed segments of society.
He said the School Feeding Programme was initiated under Former President John Agyekum Kufuor to provide at least one square meal for school children, because not all children could access a good meal in a day.
In some communities, he said, the meal served as an incentive for children to attend school, he noted.
Mr. Osafo-Marfo made the statements when the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) presented items, including cups and plates, to the Senior Minister to support the SFP.
He said the donation followed an appeal he made to the GNCCI when he heard about some of the challenges with the implementation of the Programme, including inadequate cups, plates and spoons for the pupils, with some having to share cups and plates.
“The food is being provided, but food must be served in plates, and when children or anybody eats, they must drink and, therefore, the need for normal ‘infrastructure to support eating’.
“This is not something that you always want to put on the plate of government; this is an area that the private sector can come and help and therefore, I decided to appeal for help from the GNCCI,” he said.
He commended the GNCCI for being the first organisation to respond to his plea for support for the Programme.
The Senior Minister, therefore, appealed to other institutions and businesses to support the Programme with the ‘requisite food infrastructure’.
He said individuals could also volunteer to provide some of these items to schools in the communities where they came from.
“If we go on this consciousness, within a very short time, every school child will have a dedicated cup, plate and cutlery. It is hygienic, it is fair. They are our children and grandchildren; let’s make life comfortable for our own children,” he stated.
Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, President of the GNCCI, who made the presentation, on behalf of the Chamber, said the donation comprised 2500 pieces of plastic plates, 2600 pieces of cups and the same number of cutlery to show the way for others in the private sector.
He said it should be considered the Chamber’s ‘widow’s mite’ and pledged a larger donation to the Programme in the future.
“Being the representative voice of the private sector of Ghana, we saw the need to pave the way for all others to emulate,” he said.
Ms. Cynthia Morrison, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, commended the GNCCI for their support, particular on a day that marked World Children’s Day, which falls on November 20th, annually.
She said the GNCCI had opened the floodgates for others to donate and also thanked the Senior Minister for making the appeal.
Source: GNA