For the 2026–2027 academic year, the Government has allocated over UAH 83,615.8 thousand. The funds will be distributed to communities in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions to provide free hot meals for schoolchildren in 1,786 general secondary schools.

These are the regions that the UN World Food Programme supports. A separate co-financing mechanism is used here to organise meals for primary school pupils. The state budget allocates UAH 35 per primary school pupil for meals, with a further UAH 15 to be provided by the UN World Food Programme. This approach provides free hot meals for children and supports communities that are operating under difficult conditions.

This mechanism will ensure that children receive free hot meals even in those communities that are operating amid ongoing security challenges, whilst also allowing them to prepare in good time for the start of the new school year. The timely allocation of funds will enable communities to make purchases on time, enter into contracts with suppliers, and organise meals for children right from the start of the new academic year.

As previously reported, from 1 September 2026, free hot meals will be provided to all schoolchildren in state secondary schools across Ukraine; for further details, see the link. For communities in frontline and border regions, a special funding mechanism will provide additional support, which will ensure the implementation of the state guarantee even in wartime.

Moreover, with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI), a digital tool is under development that will enable the monitoring of food prices and the cost of school meal services.

Funding for school meals is provided within the framework of the school nutrition reform, launched in 2020 on the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. The reform aims to provide children with healthy, safe, and balanced meals, to modernise approaches in the organisation of school nutrition, and to foster a culture of healthy eating in Ukrainian families.