Dubai: One of the city's favourite retailers, Choithrams, teams up with its long-term partner, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), to launch "End Hunger with Goodness" - an important initiative in support of WFP’s aim to achieve Zero Hunger globally by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 4-month awareness and fundraising campaign is set to roll out between September 1 and December 31, 2023. Generous proceeds from the campaign will go towards supporting WFP's School Meal Programmes in the Middle East region, benefiting children in the most vulnerable communities.

WFP's school meals serve as a crucial safety net, guaranteeing access to education, health, and nutrition for children in food-insecure parts of the world. This is particularly vital for vulnerable students who often face challenges like illness, hunger, and malnutrition, which hinder consistent school attendance. For these individuals and their families, the provision of daily meals or snacks acts as a compelling incentive to maintain regular school attendance, especially for girls.

Since 2015, Choithrams has backed WFP by donating 6.5 million school meals to its programmes in the Middle East, and by promoting Zero Hunger messages to millions of UAE residents annually.

L. T. Pagarani, Chairman of Choithrams said, “While we owe it to our generous customers for the tremendous impact over the years, we look forward to reaching more beneficiaries with "End Hunger with Goodness" campaign. Research shows that school-meal programmes can increase enrolment by 9 per cent on an average. In areas where there are prevalent barriers to education, including child labour, early marriage, or gender inequalities, WFP school meal programmes reach specific groups of children including adolescent girls and children from marginalised communities. Therefore, we should double down on our efforts to ensure no child is left behind in the quest for education.”

When customers buy "Goodness Foods" products, Choithrams pledges up to AED 4 to WFP’s school meals programmes. Only products marked with a special sticker qualify, these are available at 28+ Choithrams stores in Dubai, online on Choithrams.com, and food apps.

“Choithrams' valuable support for WFP `School meal programs in the Middle East region comes at a crucial time, as the number of acutely malnourished children continues to increase. It is vital to take action to improve nutrition among both children and mothers to prevent the risk of a lost generation”, said Mageed Yahia, WFP Representative to the GCC. “The global estimate of up to 60 million acutely malnourished children emphasizes the importance of consistent funding from the private sector partners, as well as engaging with consumers and the community at large, to effectively address this significant challenge faced by WFP.” He added. 

This year, during the #ZeroHungerwithGoodness 4 months advocacy campaign, Dubai’s popular clinical dietician Mitun De Sarkar will present bite-sized ideas on how to contribute to ending hunger and adopting wholesome eating habits in line with the campaign theme "End Hunger with Goodness". Mitun’s sought after recipes and tips have helped advocate WFP’s Zero Hunger messages to thousands of followers on popular social media channels in the past few years.

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About The UN World Food Programme:

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

WFP does not endorse any product or service.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_gcc. 

About UN WFP – Choithrams Partnership

Established in 2015, the strategic partnership between WFP and Choithrams has delivered tangible, life-changing results for many in vulnerable communities. Choithrams and WFP have collaborated as partners on a variety of Zero Hunger campaigns in supermarket locations across the United Arab Emirates. Over 6 million meals have been donated since the start of the partnership in 2015.For many of the school-children supported by the WFP-Choithrams partnership, the meal they receive at school is the only one they’ll eat that day. That’s why the partnership works hard to increase access and availability to food for children in marginalized communities in the Middle East and beyond. To learn more, visit www.choithrams.com/zerohunger

#ZeroHunger

In 2015 the global community adopted the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development to improve people’s lives by 2030. Goal 2 – Zero Hunger – pledges to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, and is the priority of the World Food Programme.

Every day, WFP and its partners work to bring us closer to a Zero Hunger world. The vision is achieved through humanitarian food assistance providing nutritious food to those in urgent need. In tandem, complementary programmes address the root causes of hunger, building the resilience of communities, so we don’t need to keep saving the same lives each year.

About Choithrams

Choithrams is a successful group with associates in diverse fields including manufacturing, distribution, commodities, retailing This rich combination brings to the group a huge fund of experience and resources. Choithrams came to UAE in 1974 and its chain of over 40 supermarkets have made it a household name in the Emirates.

Follow us on Twitter at @choithramsuae or check our website:   www.choithrams.com/en/

For more info please contact:
Choithrams World Food Programme
Kirti Malhotra
Email : kmalhotra@choithrams.com
Zeina Habib
Email: zeina.habib@wfp.org