It has indirectly helped to mitigate poverty, a key factor in hindering education for girls. Oil distribution has also given parents an opportunity for regular contacts with teachers. In the health project, WFP encourages women to seek primary health care at an early stage of pregnancy. This project aims at improving the health of the rural poor by increasing their access to better-quality primary health care, thus helping to reduce mortality and morbidity rates and directly benefiting households. Again the incentive is edible oil, distributed at health clinics.
Teachers also receive oil for their regular attendance, which has reduced teacher absenteeism.
Some 50,000 girls and 1900 female teachers benefit annually from the programme. As a result of the introduction of the oil incentive, girls' enrolment has increased significantly in North West Frontier and Balochistan provinces and other areas where cultural and social taboos still remain a strong barrier to female education All beneficiaries are girls and women. They are responsible for receiving, storing and distributing oil, as well as monitoring and reporting project activities. The project is implemented in about 980 health centres, mostly in rural areas, where public health services are limited and attendance at health centres is low. The project benefits about 200,000 women annually.