Last Updated on May 9, 2026, 3:34 PM AST by Anthony Morris
Stakeholders from the World Food Programme are currently in St Kitts and Nevis as a part of a technical mission. The organization is currently in the process of conducting a comprehensive assessment which will help in identifying gaps and opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of school meals and nutrition initiatives across the federation.
The members of the technical mission also paid a courtesy call to the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis. During this meeting, Minister of Education and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Geoffrey Hanley was also in attendance.
The meeting between the St Kitts and Nevis leadership and the World Food Programme technical mission was also witnessed by other representatives from the Ministry of Health, Education and Agriculture. The discussions which took place during the meeting centred around areas like the importance of nutrition in education and the government’s continued commitment to supporting school feeding initiatives.
Further, during their visit to the twin islands, the members of the technical mission also organised introductory meetings with senior officials in the education ministry and other relavent departments.
During these meetings, the leadership of the Ministries had the opportunity to discuss the alignment of priorities of the partnership. The organization has shared that all the stakeholders who attended the meeting shared insights, and outlined the scope of the technical assessment.
Latoya Matthew-Duncan, who serves as the Nutrition Surveillance Officer in the Ministry of Health and will be acting as the Focal Point on the mission, said that initiative will help significantly in advancing and improving the Federation’s approach to student nutrition.
The technical mission will help the nation in identifying the gaps that exist within the national nutrition policy. The officials have shared that they are also looking at the meal programme with a wide lens and figure out ways to fill the gaps
“The Technical Mission represents an important opportunity for the Federation to not only look at our national school meals programme from a much wider angle, but also to assist us with identifying gaps and challenges, as well as look at ways to adjust them. I think this mission is timely, as school nutrition in the Caribbean is a big deal. I think that it is a great vessel to look at nutrition interventions for St. Kitts and Nevis overall.”
Alessio Orgera, who serves as the Regional Adviser for the School-based Programmes, WFP, asserted that the mission served as an assessment effort. After this, the stakeholders will receive a detailed report which will help further guide future action.
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has asserted that child nutrition is a very important= component of its education agenda.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
