Khammouane Province, Laos — July 30, 2007 — IRD received the first shipment of food from the United States of America on July 24, 2007, as part of the Safe Educational Opportunities primary school feeding / improvement program implemented by IRD in the Buaolapa, Mahasay and Gnomalat districts of the Khammouane province.

To mark thearrival of the first food shipment, IRD organized a reception where Joshua Archibald, Economic and Commercial Officer, Embassy of the United States of America to Laos, handed over the food to representatives of the Lao Government. 20 metric tons (MT) of canned salmon arrived in Thakhek, Khammouane province, with another 640 MT arriving in August and September. The food support is comprised of rice, corn soy blend, canned salmon and small red beans. IRD will distribute the food locally to primary schools, the first of many distributions to come.

The school feeding component targets 10,000 students in 110 primary schools with daily and take home rations in an effort to improve school attendance. Additional activities include teacher and community school management training, school garden and other school environment improvements, and school materials and supplies distribution. The project has been working with communities for participation in this program for the last few months and will be providing food through this coming school year, starting in September.

The food and operational funding for the Safe Educational Opportunities project is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In October 2006, IRD was awarded an approximately $1 million grant to implement the program in Laos, aimed at improving educational opportunities and the nutrition of primary schoolchildren. IRD is implementing this project in partnership with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG, for the clearing of unexploded ordnance), HDI and the Ministry of Education.