Rome Newsroom, Jan 28, 2021 / 13:00 pm
Pope Francis met on Thursday with the head of the World Food Program, as the organization issued a warning that more than 300 million children are going hungry amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The pope met David Beasley at the Vatican on Jan. 28. The 40-minute meeting took place as the WFP and UNICEF released a joint research report on the impact of school closures on children's nutrition.
The report said that around the world more than 39 billion in-school meals have been missed due to school closures since the start of the pandemic.
The research found that 370 million children globally have missed an average of 40% of in-school meals since COVID-19 closed schools. Many of these children are reliant on school meals for much of their daily nutrition.