A/HRC/43/44/Add.5 100. However, there are insufficient data on exclusive breastfeeding. Italy should provide reliable and updated data on breastfeeding to ensure the development of targeted policies and social protection programmes aimed to support breastfeeding. VI. School feeding programmes / school canteens 101. The policies around school canteens and feeding children at school are a way of ensuring that children’s right to food is guaranteed in a context where their right to education is also ensured. In addition, school canteens are supporting the fight against child poverty. Improving the food security of Italian children would inevitably require increasing the number of schools that offer a complete day at school including school meals for those who cannot afford them.57 102. Over 1.2 million children live in absolute poverty in Italy, mostly in the south. Access to school canteens would guarantee a complete meal for the 3.9 per cent of children in Italy who even today do not consume enough protein or have an adequate meal each day, a percentage that increases dramatically to 6.2 per cent in southern Italy. 58 103. In nine regions, more than 50 per cent of pupils do not have a school canteen service, and the percentage of students who have the service but do not use it vary from 30 to 80 per cent. The disparities of fees among municipalities are huge: tariffs vary from 30 cents in Palermo to 7.20 euros in Ravenna.59 104. As stated by various sources, reductions and exemptions applied to tariffs are only for residents, leaving the children of non-residents without access to school canteens. Some municipalities do not even apply exemptions. 105. There is an urgent need to improve the quality of the food in school canteens and to provide local and organic food from local producers. The Ministry of Health is actively engaged in defining a global strategy aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing noncommunicable diseases. In 2010, the national guidelines for school catering were developed,60 and a review of the guidelines will soon be published. 106. The Government should support low-income families whose children cannot participate in the school canteen service due to their economic situation, and therefore guarantee one nutritious meal every day for children living in poverty. In addition, it should adopt a national framework for the establishment of school feeding programmes to combat disparities among municipalities and ensure that all students have access to school canteens, despite their families’ economic situation, making school canteens a public service, partially supported by public funds. VII. Contribution of Italy to global food policies 107. Italy actively participates in United Nations mechanisms, and is a founding member of the European Union and a member of the Group of Seven, which constitutes the seven largest advanced economies in the world. These seven economies represent more than 62 per cent of global net wealth, more than 46 per cent of the global GDP based on nominal values, and more than 32 per cent of the global GDP based on purchasing power parity. These figures indicate that the role of Italy and its impact on agriculture and food systems in the globalized world is significant. 57 58 59 60 Save the Children, (Non) Tutti a Mensa 2018 ((Not) all at the school canteens 2018). Available at https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/node/16166/pdf/non-tutti-mensa-2018.pdf. Ibid., p. 6. Cittadina Attiva, “Presentata IV indagine su ‘Tariffe e qualità mense scolastiche’” (Fourth survey on school canteen rates and quality), 8 November 2019. Available at www.cittadinanzattiva.it/primopiano/scuola/12734-presentata-iv-indagine-su-tariffe-e-qualita-mense-scolastiche.html. See www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_1248_allegato.pdf. 17