WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide



Pakistan Operational Update (Sep 3)
ISLAMABAD – A month after torrential monsoon rains caused Pakistan’s worst natural disaster , leaving flood victims at risk of hunger and disease, WFP is ramping up its emergency operation to ensure that the most vulnerable people continue to receive life-saving food assistance and children do not slip into malnutrition.


Celebrities Join MDG Push (Sep 2)
UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors actor Antonio Banderas, tennis player Maria Sharapova and footballers Didier Drogba, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, are among a group of celebrities who, from today, will be using their social media networks to support the United Nations push for action against extreme poverty, hunger and disease. (..) Among those who have joined the effort are the following: (..) Paul Tergat (Kenya / World Food Programme (WFP) / runner).


Japan donates Shs10 billion to Karamoja (Sep 2)
The Japanese government has donated about Shs10 billion towards emergency and livelihood programmes in the Karamoja region. The funds to be channeled through the World Food Programme (WFP), will see about Shs6 billion go towards emergency activities in response to drought in the region and about Shs3 billion to the Karamoja productive assets programme.


MYANMAR: Rural poor hit by arbitrary “taxes”, says report (Sep 2)
Myanmar’s military government, with soldiers scattered throughout the country, is arbitrarily levying fees from the rural poor, pushing some into hunger and debt, experts say. (..)Ten percent of the country is food insecure, with more than 90 percent persistently on the brink of hunger in some regions, according to the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization.


World Bank raises Pakistan funding (Sep 2)
The World Bank has raised its funding for Pakistan's flood disaster recuperation to $1bn. An additional $100 million has been pledged, the bank said on Wednesday, to help with the worst disaster in the country's history. (..) The World Food Programme on Wednesday warned that Pakistan faced a "triple threat". "There is a triple threat unfolding as this crisis widens and deepens," Josette Sheeran, the World Food Programme chief, said at a conference with other UN officials in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, after visiting flooded areas on Wednesday.


How to help small farmers around the world (Sep 1)
The other day, I received a reminder from Burwinkel Farms about the "yummy fruits and vegetables" still available for the summer season. Burwinkel operates a stand around the corner from my home and they specialize in sweet corn!! (..) The World Food Programme (WFP) says: "Many smallholder farmers lose a significant percentage of their produce due to poor storage facilities and poor storage techniques. Crops rot or are stolen." WFP helps farmers to improve storage facilities through the Purchase for Progress initiative.


Liberia: Something New for the Senior Class: Girls (Sep 1)
When students return to the classroom at Bopolu Central High School this year, there will be something not seen at the school since it reopened after Liberia’s long civil war. (..) Mohammed Kamara, a teacher and special assistant to the county education officer, said female primary-school students are getting free books and uniforms, and that girls in his district are receiving food rations for their families once a week with support of the World Food Program (WFP).


PAKISTAN: What did you eat today? (Sep 1)
For hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis forced by the floods to abandon their homes, food is a primary concern: some families have gone days without a meal. Frances Kennedy, a World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson, told IRIN: “We are very concerned about the nutritional situation. About 2.8 million people have been reached, but there are others in need. Camps are crowded and people are sleeping on sides of the roads.”


Pakistan disaster will have 'long tail', says Nick Clegg (Sep 1)
Nick Clegg warned today that flood-hit Pakistan will need aid for years to come as he saw the devastation for himself. (..) The Deputy Prime Minister toured the Pakistan Air Force flood relief camp at Sukkur, which houses more than 3,000 refugees. He was shown a clinic and chatted with children at a makeshift school, before moving on to the UN World Food Programme distribution base.


Bolivia: Farmers Abandon Land As Drought Spreads Hunger (Sep 1)
A long dry spell in the El Chaco region of southern Bolivia has decimated maize harvests, threatening an entire culture of indigenous corn growers with destitution. As thousands sell their land and move to the cities, WFP is helping to make staying on their farms a real option.