On 3 June 2024, Ihor Vuytsyk, Head of the Lviv Agrarian Chamber, and monitoring officer Davyd Kravchenko conducted a monitoring mission as part of the UN World Food Programme’s Institutional Food Programme in the Ternopil region.
The team visited five of the more than 70 institutions participating in the UN World Food Programme’s Institutional Food Programme. Representatives of the Lviv Agrarian Chamber visited the Pochaiv District Municipal Hospital, the Pochaiv Psychoneurological Care Home and the State Educational Institution ‘Pochaiv Higher Vocational School’. The mission concluded in the town of Kremenets, where two institutions are participating in the programme – the Kremenets District Hospital of the Kremenets City Council and the Kremenets Forestry College, which is being used as temporary accommodation for 15 internally displaced persons from Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and Maryinka.
The aim of the monitoring mission was to assess the effectiveness of food aid provision and its impact on improving the quality of life of internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups. Therefore, members of the monitoring group actively engaged with the direct recipients of such aid, inquired about the quality of food in the facilities, informed those receiving aid about the Institutional Food Programme implemented by the UN World Food Programme, and listened to people’s needs and wishes.
Members of the monitoring group also met with the heads of the institutions, inspected storage areas, food preparation and dining areas, and the locations of information posters.
In discussions with the heads of the institutions visited, Ihor Vuytsyk emphasised the importance of adhering to food storage requirements, organising regular monitoring, and ensuring transparency in the accounting and reporting of their use, regulating orders for food supplies to ensure there is no surplus in warehouses and that all food is used within the expiry dates specified in the certificates of origin and quality. Ihor Vuytsyk also highlighted the importance of placing information posters in appropriate locations to provide beneficiaries with comprehensive information about the Institutional Food Programme and the opportunity for feedback via free access to the WFP and LAP hotlines.
As a result, several institutions were provided with additional posters and recommendations on improving storage facilities where relevant.
It should be noted that virtually all the institutions visited ensured an appropriate level of storage and use of the food received under the Institutional Food Programme. Feedback from beneficiaries indicates regular use of these products for meals and the high quality of the prepared dishes.
However, members of the monitoring group noted that direct communication with beneficiaries is very important for disseminating information about the operation of the UN World Food Programme’s Institutional Food Programme. First-hand accounts of the range and quality of products supplied to institutions, along with information on the number of people receiving them and the number of institutions participating in the Programme, help to understand the nature and scale of the UN World Food Programme’s humanitarian activities in Ukraine.
Consequently, during future monitoring visits, representatives of the Lviv Agrarian Chamber will plan to engage with aid recipients in all visited institutions where this is practically feasible.
