A delegation from the World Food Program led by Hilde Bergsma and Khalid Masood met with the School Education and Literacy Department Government of Sindh to finalise plans for a School Meal Program pilot in Karachi’s Malir district. The meeting was chaired by Zahid Ali Abbasi, Secretary SE&LD, with officials including Abdul Hanan Shaikh, Additional Secretary, Muhammad Ali Sangi, Director General PDR, and Prem Sagar, Special Consultant.
Discussions concentrated on the pilot phase scope and on identifying a feasible location for a central kitchen to support meal preparation and distribution. Participants reviewed operational priorities, quality and safety considerations, and logistics to ensure the School Meal Program can be implemented effectively in the selected communities.
The pilot is designed to benefit approximately 8,000 undernourished students across 40 schools in Malir, delivering daily meals while establishing a model for monitoring and scalability. Both SE&LD and WFP emphasised that lessons from the pilot will guide efforts to expand the School Meal Program to other areas of Sindh.
WFP representatives expressed appreciation for the cooperative approach taken by the Secretary SE&LD, noting that strong government coordination will be crucial to the initiative’s success. The parties agreed to advance site selection and operational planning in the coming weeks to meet the pilot’s objectives.
Officials said the focus will remain on ensuring reliable delivery, nutritional standards, and community engagement during the pilot so the School Meal Program can be scaled based on measured impact and operational feasibility.
