The number of children receiving government-funded summer meals is up ten percent from last year and the Hungarian Government has spent 2.64 billion forints (EUR 8.4 million) on the summer catering programme for children, Minister of State for Social Affairs and Inclusion Károly Czibere said on Wednesday.
At a press conference in the north Hungarian village of Nagylóc, Mr. Czibere said that 1,300 municipalities had applied for state grants and the Government was able to fund summer meals in all underprivileged or multiply underprivileged settlements.
He said the successful initiative will be complemented with a special operative programme to support the underprivileged and EU funding will also be available during the next European Union financing period, increasing the available budget to 29 billion forints (EUR 92 million). The money will mostly be spent on meals and supplementary packages, including diapers for example, for children under the age of three.
“Through the combination of the above two programmes, from next year we will hopefully be able to say that our most important objective has been achieved and there isn’t a single family in Hungary whose children are not properly fed for lack of money”, he said.
Mr. Czibere also said that the Ministry would begin planning next year’s programme in the autumn, based on feedback from local governments including, for instance, whether they experienced any bureaucratic obstacles and if the quotas determined in the programme conditions were sufficiently realistic.
Mayor of Nagylóc Gábor Péter said that the village had participated in the government programme for the first time this year and they were able to provide summer meals for 199 children, 50 of which were funded by the municipality. He praised the initiative for providing the funds in advance, adding that feedback from parents was exclusively positive.