Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is set to attend the First Global School Meals Coalition (GSMC) in Paris, France on October 18 and 19.
The administrator is currently on a five-day working tour in Paris and will be representing President William Ruto at the summit.
According to Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, Dr. Ruto was invited by France’s President Emmanuel Macron but was unable to attend due to prior commitments. He chose Governor Sakaja to represent him.
“Due to prior official commitments, His Excellency the President will be unable to attend this meeting. In this regard, the President has requested that you represent him at this meeting given that you have been invited as well,” reads the letter addressed to Sakaja on October 5, 2023.
The meeting has brought together various Heads of state and ministers to deliberate on how to invest in sustainable food systems and climate change action through school meals.
Sakaja is expected to speak on the ‘Dishi na County’ school feeding programme which he launched on August 2023.
“The biggest impact we have is not pegged on data or numbers, it is that the children know that somebody cares about them,” he said on Tuesday when speaking to students at a sideline meeting of his one-week official meeting in Paris.
The Governor added that the feeding programme is committed to feeding all children in public Early Childhood Development Education Centres and Primary schools with a nutritious meal each school day.
The program is expected to improve the nutritional status of learners, school attendance, performance, and transition rates for children in Nairobi.
Dishi na County is currently in the Phase One stage where 42 schools are targeted.
In his first budget for 2023-24, Sakaja allocated Sh1.2 billion towards the feeding programme.
Some Sh500 million was allocated to building seven more kitchens and the rest to subsidise the cost of a plate for each child.
Ten central kitchens for the programme have been under construction since June, 2023.
