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UNESCO, WFP, UNICEF and WHO Joint Position Paper - The importance of investing in the wellbeing of children to avert the learning crisis - October 2020

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The world is facing an education catastrophe that could rob generations of a promising future. This is why UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO and WFP are coming together to call on global leaders to act now and invest in school health and nutrition in national, regional and global recovery plans to Save Our Future.

The 2020 Extraordinary session of the Global Education Meeting marked a critical moment. Heads of State and Government, representatives of United Nations agencies, humanitarian and development partners, international and regional organizations and civil society organizations expressed their concern and agreed to reinforce global cooperation and investment in education, particularly to safely reopen schools and restoring access to services such as school meals, health, WASH and social protection.

The attached joint statement urges governments and the international community to uphold these commitments by:

1- Considering school health and nutrition services as an important part of the own national response and recovery plans; and

2- Supporting efforts to ensure that this important issue is reflected in regional and global response and recovery agendas, and that funding is mobilized to support the scale up of national school-based health and nutrition programmes.