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Nutrition Literacy Program in Primary Schools in Cameroon

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YAOUNDE, Cameroon, November 30, 2018/ — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Cameroon a grant of $27 million (approximately 14 billion CFA) for a nutrition and literacy program targeting primary schools in four regions of the country.  Over five years, the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program will benefit more than 200,000 people, including children, teachers, and parents, associated with 265 schools in the Adamawa, East, North, and Northwest Regions of Cameroon.  The program will also provide nutrition, teacher training, health and sanitation, and good governance training to government officials at the regional and national levels. 

Ambassador Barlerin noted that “This McGovern-Dole grant demonstrates the value our two countries place on children having balanced nutrition so they can focus on being the best learners they can be. I’m pleased the United States is able to contribute to educating the next generation of Cameroonians. A good education is a human resource that fuels the country’s development.” 

The program will focus on achieving the following objectives: 

Enhancing the quality of literacy instruction;
Improving student attentiveness by providing daily school meals;
Raising community awareness of the importance of education by providing take-home rations and strengthening the capacity of parent-teacher associations; and

Promoting good health and dietary behavior.

The 2018 grant comes three months after the close of a $12-million 2015 USDA award, which benefited approximately 57, 000 individuals in Bui Division in the Northwest Region, including 22,000 school age children. U.S.-based international NGO Nascent Solutions won the right to manage and implement the program through an open and transparent, competitive bidding competition. Nascent has over six years’ experience implementing the program in the Northwest, and has received positive reviews from visiting U.S. and Cameroonian government inspectors. 

The McGovern-Dole Program is named after former U.S. Senators George McGovern, a Democrat, and Robert Dole, a Republican. This program embodies the enduring, bipartisan commitment to promoting education and eradicating childhood hunger in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Cameroon.

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