World Food Programme

File:€2 commemorative coin Italy 2004.jpg

Italian €2 commemorative coin of 2004 celebrating the WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian agency, provides food to more than ninety million people in eighty two countries. WFP is the food aid branch of the United Nations. From its headquarters in Rome and more than 80 country offices around the world, WFP works to help people who are unable to produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families.

The most recent focus of the WFP has been seeking food sources for purchase that are more local to the crisis. This strategy is found to have the dual impact of feeding the hungry and being a market for food produced in surrounding areas, thereby strengthening nearby economies.

Overview

The WFP was first conceived at the 1961 Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Conference, when George McGovern, director of the US Food for Peace Program, proposed establishing a multilateral food aid program. WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly on a three-year experimental basis. In 1965, the programme was extended and is now supported on a continuing basis.

Organization

The WFP is governed by the WFP Executive Board which consists of 36 member states. Josette Sheeran is the current Executive Director. She was appointed jointly by the UN Secretary General and the Director-General of the FAO in April of 2007, for a five-year term. Traditionally, the WFP Executive Director has been American and recommended by the U.S. President.

As Executive Director, Ms. Sheeran heads the Secretariat of WFP and is also responsible for implementing the programs and projects of the WFP.[1]

As of 2006, WFP had a staff of 10,587 people, with 829 staffers at the Rome headquarters. Close to 92% of WFP employees are working at field offices in eighty two different nations. WFP programs involve both urgently needed food aid in crisis situations and development projects.[2]

Goals and strategies

WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the need for food aid.

According to its mission statement, the core strategies behind WFP activities are to provide food aid to:

1. save lives in refugee and other emergency situations;
2. improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at critical times in their lives; and
3. help build assets and promote the self-reliance of poor people and communities, particularly through food for work programmes.

WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV/AIDS. Food for work programs of WFP provide food for people while they work to rebuild damaged infrastructure and replant crops following crisis. This program also helps to strengthen environmental and economic stability and agricultural production.

Activities

In 2006, WFP distributed 4 million metric tons of food to 87.8 million people in 78 countries; 63.4 million beneficiaries were aided in emergency operations, including victims of conflict, natural disasters and economic failure in countries like Afghanistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan and Niger. Direct expenditures in 2006 were just below US$2.7 billion, with the most money being spent on protracted relief and recovery operations. WFP’s largest country operation in 2006 was Sudan: in Darfur, the Programme reached more than 5 million people.

WFP focuses much of its food aid on women and children, in order to fulfill the goal of ending child hunger. Research has shown that when food reaches the hands of women, it is more likely to reach the most needy, hungry children. In 2005, food assistance was provided to 58 million children, 30 percent of whom were under five. In-school feeding programs in 74 countries help students focus on their studies and encourage parents to send their children, especially girls, to school. Recently WFP has been strengthening in school feeding programs by sending rations home with children and school teachers.

Funding

WFP operations are funded by donations from world governments, corporations and private donors. In 2005 the Programme received $2.8 billion in contributions. All donations are completely voluntary. The organization’s administrative costs are only seven percent—one of the lowest and best among aid agencies. On November 6, 2006 Josette Sheeran Shiner was appointed to replace James T. Morris as Executive Director of WFP by the Secretary-General of the UN and Director-General of FAO in April 2007. Sheeran is currently Under Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs United States Department of State and was managing editor of the Washington Times.

Official partners

WFP has a number of official partners to co-ordinate and co-operate in emergencies and development projects. These partners include government agencies such as DFID, ECHO, EUROPEAID, USAID; non-governmental organizations such as Hungrykids.org, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council; as well as corporate partners such as TNT, Citigroup and Boston Consultancy Group.[3]

Grassroots efforts

In 2004, the WFP tasked Auburn University with heading the first student-led War on Hunger effort. Auburn founded the Committee of 19, which has not only led campus and community hunger awareness events but also developed a War on Hunger model for use on campuses across the country.

WFP has launched a global advocacy and fundraising event called Walk the World. On one single day each year, hundreds of thousands of people in every time zone all over the world walk to call for the end of child hunger. In 2005, more than 200,000 people walked in 296 locations. In 2006 there were 760,000 participants in 118 countries all over the world. This event is part of the campaign to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, specifically to halve the number of people who suffer from hunger and poverty by 2015.

In 2006, the Committee of 19 hosted a War on Hunger Summit at which representatives from 29 universities were in attendance. At this summit, the model for a student-led War on Hunger initiative was presented with strong support.

Reference

• Pisik, B. (2006). Sheeran, Former Washington Times Editor, Will Lead U.N. Food Program. Washington Times National Weekly Edition November 13, 2006 24

• Loewenberg S.(2007) Should the World Food Programme Focus on Development? Lancet. 369 (9580):2149-50 ISSN: 0140-6736

• Ingram, James C. (2006)Bread and Stones: Leadership and the Struggle to Reform the United Nations World Food Programme.N. Charleston, S C: BookSurge. ISBN: 141964470X

External links

• World Food Programme (official site)
• Friends of the World Food Programme United States agency helping raise awareness about global hunger
• FightHunger.org - WFP's global campaign to end child hunger by 2015
• Auburn University War on Hunger campaign - Student-led effort sponsored by WFP
• We Need to Escalate the War on Hunger (Cincinnati Enquirer, July 3rd, 2006)
• Democracy's Vital Ingredient-Food September 13, 2006 Salt Lake Tribune online edition. (posted on Friends of WFP site)
• Food Quality Control (WFP's Food Specifications, Processing and Loss Mitigation )
• Congress Must Help Feed the World's Children Article about McGovern-Dole School Feeding Program, Cincinnati Enquirer December 1 ,2006
• The Food-Aid Racket

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