EU to allocate around €200 million for school meals in Ukraine

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at the United Nations. Photo: AP/Yuki Iwamura

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the European Union will provide around 200 million euros to provide school meals for children in Ukraine.

She made the announcement during a speech at the conference «Restoring Childhood and Humanity - Promoting Peace in Ukraine through the Return of Ukrainian Children», which took place during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, «Suspilne» reports.

«The European Union stands by Ukraine. Today, I can announce that we are ready to allocate around 200 million euros for school lunches. At the same time, our work will not end until all Ukrainian children return home. This commitment applies to everyone who is still in captivity on foreign soil», said Ursula von der Leyen.

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She also emphasised that the EU is funding the work of the Ukrainian prosecutor's office so that families can see justice restored. In addition, together with UNICEF, more than €10 million is being allocated to support returned Ukrainian children so that they can «recover, learn and dream again».

Von der Leyen emphasised that sanctions have already been imposed on more than 50 people involved in the abduction of children. According to her, more than 1.5 million Ukrainian children are currently in the temporarily occupied territories.

«This is not only a matter for Ukraine. It is a shared responsibility of the world to increase pressure on Russia. That is why the EU is joining the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children and will hold a high-level international summit to make this issue a priority on the global agenda. After all, every abducted child is a loss not only for Ukraine but for the whole world. We must bring every child home», the European Commission President stressed.

Complaints about food in Mykolaiv schools

Earlier, parents of Mykolaiv schoolchildren expressed dissatisfaction with free meals on social media. According to them, the portions were smaller than normal, the meals were served cold, and the dishes in the school canteens were dirty.

Petro Vasheniak, director of the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv educational institutions , said he had personally checked the situation, particularly at school 41, where parents complained about the amount of food on the plate. According to him, the portions were in line with the norms, but in the photo, part of the dish was hidden — for example, a chicken nugget was lying on top of potatoes.

Parents complain about the quality of food in Mykolaiv schools, photo: Anna Shevchenko

Later, the State Food and Consumer Service of Mykolaiv stated that they had not received any complaints about the poor quality of food in the city's school canteens.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, responded to parents' complaints by saying that a special commission would be set up in the city with representatives of the city council to monitor the situation.

Following the incident, the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv region checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the meals served to students.

Anatoliy Petrov, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv for Social and Humanitarian Affairs, said that no city in Ukraine can provide quality food for all schoolchildren.

As a reminder, in Mykolaiv, parents of students at Mykola Arkas Lyceum, which is temporarily operating on the basis of Gymnasium №39, complain about problems with food in the canteen. According to them, the children are served portions that were not finished by the students of the gymnasium.

The Mykolaiv Education Department confirmed that maggots were found in the porridge at a school in Mykolaiv in the first days of September.