Final: During the 2001-2002 school year, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina implemented the USDA Global Food for Education (GFE) Program in 106 schools in 37 cities, targeting over 34,000 of the most vulnerable students in those 106 schools. CRS began the 2002-2003 school year by increasing the number of beneficiaries to approximately 40,000 in 120 schools, and further increased the number of beneficiaries to 53,800.

Like other countries in the Eastern European region, Bosnia and Herzegovina places a high societal and cultural emphasis on the importance of education. In fact, in Bosnia and Herzegovina families have a legal obligation to enroll their school-aged children in appropriate educational institutions. Therefore school enrollment statistics do not show an increase. However, CRS reports did show an average attendance increase of 22% (21% for girls and 23% for boys).

By funding local contact groups, CRS has worked to encourage a greater sense of community involvement in the school. CRS awarded 224 grants, of 12,000 USD each, to Parent School Councils (PSC’s) over the course of the program.

CRS has coordinated with a network of over 20 bakeries in the various localities in which the program is operated. The bakeries prepare the meals for the schools and then deliver them on a daily basis. In return, CRS supplies the bakeries with some of the hard red winter wheat that they receive from the commodity shipment. Through these agreements, the bakeries have expanded their businesses, resulting in the creation of dozens of new jobs. The bakeries have become more educated about nutritional requirements for feeding children, they have purchased new equipment, developed a logistical plans in for delivering to multiple locations at the same time and have developed a good relationship with the schools. All of these developments have made the bakeries more competitive parties in the market, and as such the jobs newly created as a result of GFE are seen as sustainable.

Midterm: Five million meals have been served to 34,000 students in 106 schools from October 2001 through June 2002. Preliminary information from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) indicates an increase in attendance of approximately 10%, and an increase of about 45% in the number of students who attend at least a portion of the school day. The parent-school councils launched successful activities to improve school facilities through the small grants program. Economic benefits were spawned by 16 Global Food for Education Program (GFE) contracts with local bakeries that provided the meals. These contracts allowed the bakeries to hire additional employees and in some cases expand the range of products they provided to local communities. With the project extension, the feeding program and other activities will continue from September 2002 through June 2003.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a mountainous country in southeast Europe with approximately three million inhabitants. Formerly part of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, the country experienced four brutal years of war between 1992-95 that caused severe destruction of the infrastructure, economy, and human lives. Although the war ended in November 1995 with the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord, the country is still crippled economically, politically, and socially. Huge numbers of people displaced by the war are returning to their devastated communities without necessary resources and with a general lack of social services. Unemployment was approximately 40% in 1999.¹

Within this context, education is one of the areas of most promise in terms of solving problems, but it is also the area where the political and social struggles are most evident. Schools must not only cope with war-related tensions and economic stagnation, but they struggle to survive within an education system based both on a centralized social past and a decentralized post-war bureaucracy that can no longer adequately meet their needs. There is currently no effective Ministry of Education at the country level, while parallel ethnic structures in some regions (e.g., Bosniak and Croat) are making the situation even more complicated. The net result is that quality education and the future human capital of the country is compromised.

The following is a sketch of the current education system. The country is divided into two entities: the Federation, where the majority of the population is Muslim and Croat; and the Republika Srpska (RS), whose population consists mostly of Serbs. The region called Herzegovina is contiguous to Croatia and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority. The Federation and the RS have separate Ministries of Education that rarely communicate. The RS maintains a highly centralized system inherited from Yugoslavia. The Federation is broken into 10 cantons, and most of the decision-making pertaining to educational issues resides at this level. Two cantons of the Federation have parallel structures, Bosniak and Croat, that implement two separate ethnically based school policies and curricula.

Eight years of primary education are mandatory. Parents are held legally accountable for sending their children to school. Children are usually enrolled in the primary school closest to their homes. In rural areas, a walk of six miles over mountainous terrain may sometimes be necessary. Secondary education is optional, but almost 90% of teenagers complete this level. The secondary school course of study lasts three to four years, depending on the area of specialization. The teachers rarely receive their salaries, and in general are not satisfied with their working conditions because they lack books and equipment.² Given the socialist past of Bosnia-Herzegovina, there is no historic active involvement of the wider community in school activities and, ironically, the legacy of the recent war destroyed many schools and community relationships at the moment when their involvement is critical to developing the country.

Within this environment, CRS developed a proposal and signed a GFE agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The CRS program is designed to mitigate economic reasons for low attendance and relieve hunger-based hindrances to classroom learning, as well as to promote parent/community involvement in education. CRS began in October 2001 after identifying 106 schools out of 222 for which a thorough assessment was conducted.

Final: USDA commodity shipments arrive in the port of Ploce, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It is estimated that 20% of the port’s annual business comes from the arrival of the commodities, and it is believed that the USDA commodity shipments contribute to the maintenance of several hundred jobs.

CRS received 24,630 metric tons of hard red winter wheat for school year 2001-2002. On October 29, 2001, the commodities arrived at the port of Ploce, on the Adriatic Sea. CRS delivered these commodities to their final destinations beginning on October 30, 2001 and completed on November 29, 2001. 22,000 tons were monetized, and the remaining 2,630 tons were distributed to the partner bakeries as payment for their preparation and delivery of meals.

For the 2002-2003 school year, CRS received 24,400 metric tons of the hard red winter wheat. The ship arrived at Ploce on December 12, 2002. The delivery of the commodities commenced on December 17, 2002, and was completed on January 15, 2003. CRS monetized 21,400 tons, while the remaining 3,000 tons were distributed as payment to the partner bakeries.

Midterm: CRS received 24,630 metric tons of hard red winter wheat. A total of 22,000 tons was monetized, and the remainder was provided to local bakeries to prepare bread for school sandwiches and nutritional pastries. The proceeds from monetization were used to purchase ingredients, such as meat and cheese, from local sources for the sandwiches and pastries. The caloric value of each meal is 450 calories. Additionally, each meal provides 12 grams of protein, 70 grams of carbohydrates, and 15 grams of fat (27% of caloric intake).

Final: The primary goals remained the same in essence, particularly with regards to the program’s impact on attendance. CRS did add and meet a new objective, that of expanding the scope of the program so that the number of children receiving GFE benefits approaches 55,000 by May of 2003, and the number of schools increases comparably.

Midterm: The primary goals are to increase rates of attendance and rates of enrollment, but there are a number of additional objectives.

Final: Meal service began in October 2001 and has continued through the 2001-2002 school year, providing more than 5 million meals during that time. Meal service began again in October of 2002 for the 2002-2003 school year, and continues to date. Program targeting remained essentially unchanged in the 2002-2003 school year. CRS used the same criteria but expanded the numbers of beneficiaries to approximately 53,800.

The development of the contact groups and parent-school councils has continued throughout the country, and it is the intention of CRS to ultimately transfer the responsibility of administering school feeding to these organizations when they are ready to assume this responsibility. To that end, CRS continues to hold training and development seminars with the groups in order that they become able to contribute to the longer term, broader interests of the school and its population. School Contact Groups (CGs) consist of a minimum of two parents and two teachers. Their prime role is food management, but they also implement the small school projects (2,000 USD worth) after they receive training in needs prioritization and proposal writing. The CG’s also serve as the grassroots basis for potential PSC’s, which consist of a minimum of six parents and six teachers. At the end of the year, the most successful schools and their CGs are "promoted" to PSC and it turn become eligible to apply for bigger grants (12,000 USD).

The awarding of small grants for the improvement of school facilities continued through the same competitive proposal process. A total of 110 grants were awarded for the 2002-2003 school year. In the first year of operation, CRS awarded 166 CG grants of 2,000 USD for infrastructure repair and other projects. In the second year, an additional 110 sites were approved for a grant. Also in the first year, CRS awarded 112 PSC grants of 12,000 USD. The same number was awarded in the second year.

Both the CG and the PSC grants are designated for the improvement of school facilities, the purchase of technical equipment, computers, or other physical amenities. Projects have included library improvement, purchase of teaching equipment, improvement of school and recreation facilities and landscaping to improve the educational environment. Parents and teachers regularly made in-kind contributions of labor and materials, at a minimum of 25% of each small project value. Ultimately, CRS intends to transfer the responsibility for school feeding from the centralized level to the level of the local PSC’s.

Midterm: Meal service began in October 2001 and has continued through the school year ending June 2002. An average of more than 34,000 students were provided meals in 106 schools. More than 5 million meals were provided during the 2001-2002 school year.

Small grants for the improvement of school facilities were provided to both parent-school councils ($12,000 limit) and the contact groups ($2,000) through a competitive proposal process. Projects included library improvement, purchase of teaching equipment, improvement of school and recreation facilities, and landscaping to improve the educational environment. Parents and teachers regularly made in-kind contributions of labor and materials amounting to a minimum of 25% of the value of each small project.

In order to provide students with a high quality, nutritious lunch, CRS contacted the Office of School Nutrition at the Institute for Public Health for information on types of student lunches. Based on the findings and CRS resources, 15 different menus were created to meet both nutritional requirements and the expectations of students. CRS provided these suggested menus to potential bakeries during the tender organized for school lunch production. The ability of a bakery to cost-efficiently produce the range of menu items was one of the criteria used in the selection of the contractors. After more than six months of distribution experience, CRS reduced the menus from 15 to between five and 10, allowing the bakeries and the schools to choose the appropriate menus for the students in the program. Regardless of the area or producer, the most frequent meals produced each week included sandwiches with cheese or salami, or chocolate or doughnuts.

The program targets more than 34,122 of the most vulnerable students using the following criteria:

To facilitate proper implementation and foster community ownership, this project has also supported the establishment of a grassroots mechanism to ensure distribution oversight, provide regular updates of beneficiary lists, and ensure targeting of the most needy. Two mechanisms were used at the community level: contact groups and parent-school councils. Contact groups consisting of parents and teachers were formed in each of the participating 106 schools. Each group has a minimum of two teachers and two parents who, in addition to the previously mentioned activities, also work on identifying and addressing school needs with limited funds. In addition, 16 parent-school councils were formed from the more developed groups of parents and teachers who, after assessment, were determined to have the skills to contribute to the longer term, broader interests of the school. Training in small project design and management was provided for the 16 new parent-school councils.

Other donor support: Teachers, school officials, and parents contribute labor and logistical support at the school sites.

Final: CRS intends to ultimately turn the administration of school feeding in Bosnia and Herzegovina over to the local parent-school councils.

Midterm: Parent-school councils and contact groups facilitated by CRS represent sustainable infrastructure enhancements that will be positioned to help resolve local school needs in the future.

Final: See evaluation methodology in Appendix 1.

Midterm: The following table summarizes the results of the GFE program in Bosnia-Herzegovina as of June 30, 2002.

Midterm: Both USDA and CRS are monitoring and evaluating this project. CRS has developed a number of monitoring and evaluation tools to collect data, including attendance forms, contact group quality forms, monitors’ reports (field staff report monthly), distribution control forms, individual beneficiary reports, and waybill forms to track the transport and delivery of flour to bakeries.

USDA identified a local monitor working through a non-governmental organization who is collecting baseline data on 20 schools using a standard USDA GFE questionnaire. Additionally, stakeholders at the 20 sample schools plus an additional 30 schools are being visited to collect information on implementation and impact based on feedback from teachers, parents, students, and community members.

The following table summarizes the results of the GFE program in Bosnia-Herzegovina as of March 31, 2002.

Enrollment: Like other countries in the, Bosnia and Herzegovina emphasizes the importance of education. In fact, in Bosnia and Herzegovina families have a legal obligation to enroll their school-aged children in appropriate educational institutions. Therefore school enrollment statistics do not reflect an increase.

Final: Follow-up data collection by CRS confirmed their initial findings of about a 10-% increase in classes attended, with an increase of around 45% in number of students who attend at least a part of the school day, with an average percentage change of 22% increase (21% for females and 23% for males)

Midterm: Preliminary information indicates about a 10-% increase in classes attended, with an increase of around 45% in number of students who attend at least a part of the school day.

Performance: The parent-school councils and contact groups launched successful efforts to improve school facilities, such as playgrounds, kitchen facilities, libraries, and classrooms. Community organizational infrastructure was strengthened through the assistance provided by the GFE project for parent-school councils and contact groups. Productive community relationships between teachers and parents were reinforced through the small grants program.

Special emphasis on girls: No special emphasis on girls was required, as there is not any discrepancy in enrollment between male and female students.

School enrollment and attendance are functions of many variables that are often interrelated in complex ways. Food alone may not yield the desired result. For food to be an effective tool, the project must be designed to address interrelated factors that will be critically important to the success of the program. This includes:

Last modified: Monday, April 14, 2008 06:13:23 PM