The World Food Programme (WFP) has engaged Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) to provide a mechanism for getting complaints and feedback from community members under its Take Home Ration (THR) Programme.

THR is a WFP programme that is aimed at ensuring that leaners are still accessing food rations despite the closure of schools due to COVID-10 pandemic.

THR has replaced a school meals programme and WFP through its various partners has now started providing food or money to individual households so as to reach out to the children.

As a provider of Complaints and Feedback Mechanism (CFM) for the programme, YONECO conducted a number of awareness campaigns to ensure that community members are responsive to any malpractices that may affect the objectives of the programme.

The activities were conducted in Salima, Dedza, Phalombe, Mangochi, Nsanje, Zomba and Chikwawa districts.

During the campaigns, YONECO also encouraged the leaners to keep studies and observe all preventive measures of COVID-19.

YONECO also urged parents and guardians of the programme’s beneficiaries were urged to use the food and money which they will be receiving for the intended purpose.

In his remarks, YONECO CFM Coordinator, Augustine Chikatentha, expressed satisfaction with the way the awareness campaigns were conducted in all the seven targeted districts.

“WFP has moved from wet-feeding to take-home ration in order to continue providing a predictable safety net for learners who were benefitting from the school feeding programme. As YONECO, our duty is to promote transparency and accountability in this process,” said Chikatentha.