Mary’s Meals founder and CEO Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow says it would cost approximately $US3 billion annually to provide a daily school meal to the world’s poorest children.
MacFarlane-Barrow made the comment at the first World Leaders Summit on Children’s Rights in Rome on 3 February.
The summit was attended by global leaders from Jordan, Indonesia, Italy, and the United States, with former Vice President Al Gore also present.
Mary’s Meals school lunch initiative was sparked by a conversation the founder had with an impoverished child in Malawi in 2002, who said he would like to one day go to school and have enough to eat.
“There is no good reason why we cannot make and keep this promise to the world’s poorest children,” MacFarlane-Barrow said.
The summit concluded in a declaration declaring the rights of children were being breached, a global effort is necessary, and apathy to this plight must not become normal.
The Concluding Declaration also said nations must assume more responsibility of their people and peace begins with the safety and protection of children.
MacFarlane-Barrow also said children must be allowed the “right to hope.”
“It’s a privilege to represent the Mary’s Meals family and to be the voice of the children we serve every school day,” he said.
“It was wonderful to have the opportunity to introduce the idea of the ‘right to hope’ alongside the other important rights of the child discussed.”