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Members of Congress Oppose Budget Cuts in Food Program to Starving Afghanis
Cuts in a U.S. aid program threaten Afghani children’s access to food and school, according to Representative James McGovern. The Global U.S. Department of Agriculture Food for Education program, begun in May of 2001, was designed by former senators George McGovern and Robert Dole to offer food to children provided that they attend school. The intent was to motivate parents to send both sons and daughters to school, particularly in countries like Afghanistan, where girls are often prevented from accessing even what meager educational opportunities exist in their communities. Since 2001, the program budget has been cut from $300 million to just $50 million for 2004. As a result, the number of children benefiting from the program has decreased from 7 million in 2001 to 1 million in 2004.
Currently, World Vision is helping some 37,000 schoolchildren through this program in Afghanistan. Through private funding, World Vision also provides these children with school supplies and clothes, as well as constructing new school buildings and helping parents raise vegetables to supplement family diets and help support their children’s teachers.
“This program is giving thousands of children the opportunity to go to school, and the nutrition they need to concentrate in class,” said World Vision communications manager Geno Teofilo. “This is a pivotal moment in Afghanistan’s history; these programs are vital to inspiring hope for a better future.”
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