June 3rd 2025; A segment on Youtube channel Al Jazeera Balkans
The news team from the Al Jazeera Balkans channel visited the premises of the Intercultural Dialogue Association in Ljubljana. They invited Sally Hafez, a mother of four children from Egypt, for an interview. She stated that her children often come home from school hungry. Among other things, Sally is actively involved in the BODE+ project, within which we recently submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education with a petition for providing school meals for all children, regardless of their religious or cultural background.
Under the news segment, Al Jazeera Balkans team stated the following:
Many non-government and religious organizations in Slovenia are warning about the discriminatory school meal system, which is considered one of the best in Europe. Children who do not eat certain foods for religious, cultural, ethical, or other reasons often return home from school hungry. The state has left the resolution of this issue to the goodwill of individuals in school administrations.
The representative of the MKD Furkan Guner Association also spoke with the journalist Nikola Milosavić Aleksić about the current situation regarding meals in Slovenian schools. He stated that schools simply do not provide meals that all children could eat within their religious or cultural frames (not even vegetarian). Without a medical certificate for allergies, dietary adjustments in schools are not possible. The latter was also confirmed by the Egyptian Sally Hafez.
In the name of the partners in the project and the petition, Katja Utroša from KD Gmajna also spoke about the issue. She stated that the Slovenian school system needs to make a better effort in the area of inclusivity. Children should feel welcome and included in schools. Schools are still tackling inclusion and integration in various ways, both in terms of nutrition and language learning for migrant students.
You can view the entire news segment in the video below.
