Rome – Hunger and famine will persist and there will be unequal recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic unless more women in rural and urban areas hold leadership positions with increased decision-making power, say the heads of the three United Nations’ food agencies ahead of their joint International Women’s Day event on March 8.

The event, co-organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), will focus global attention on the vital role that empowered female farmers, entrepreneurs and leaders need to play so that women can contribute on equal terms to the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and in creating an environment to eliminate poverty, enhance productivity and improve food security and nutrition.

“The world is home to more than 1.1 billion girls under the age of 18, who have the potential of becoming the largest generation of female leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers ever seen for the better future. Yet, women and girls continue to face persistent structural constraints that prevent them from fully developing their potential and hinder their efforts of improving their lives as well as their households and communities,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Women and girls can play a crucial role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in particular in transforming our agri-food systems. We all need to work together to spark the necessary changes to empower women and girls, particularly those in rural areas,” he added.

“It is essential that women are not only in more leadership positions, but that they are consulted and listened to, and integrated in all spheres and stages of pandemic response and recovery,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD. “Investing in rural women’s leadership and involving them more in creating our post-COVID-19 future is critical to ensure their perspectives and needs are adequately considered, so that we can build back better food systems where there is equal access to nutritious food and decent livelihoods.”

“Women and girls make up half of our global community and it’s time this was reflected in leadership positions at every level,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the U.N. World Food Programme. “We know from our work around the world that when women and girls have better access to information, resources and economic opportunities, and are free to make their own decisions, hunger rates fall and nutrition improves not only for themselves but also their families, communities and countries.”

Women’s leadership is particularly important in rural areas of developing countries, where the voices of the 1.7 billion women and girls who live there are often overlooked. 60 percent of women in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture – yet they have less access to resources and services than men, including land, finance, training, inputs and equipment. In addition to their agricultural work, women are overburdened with domestic chores and caring for their families – roles that have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, women are more negatively affected by the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including losing livelihoods and experiencing decreases in their personal incomes.

Ensuring that women have a greater voice is not only a matter of gender equality. Women leaders can advocate for women to have better access to and control over assets and productive inputs, thus boosting their productivity and incomes, leading to food security and increasing their employment opportunities and real wages.

Research shows that if women farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields by 20 to 30 percent and total agricultural output by 2.5 to 4 percent, lifting 100 to 150 million people out of hunger.

FAO works to strengthen rural women’s engagement and leadership in agri-food systems. FAO also engages with farmers’ organizations to ensure that rural women’s voices are heard and promotes gender-transformative approaches to challenge unfair socio-cultural norms in rural communities. Moreover, FAO supports governments to adopt policies and strategies addressing the needs and aspirations of rural women and girls, enabling them to participate in decision-making and assume leadership positions. This also implies enhancing women’s leadership skills and self-confidence and raising gender awareness within national and local institutions. Within the Organization, FAO has established a Women’s Committee providing an inclusive, safe space that reflects the diverse and energetic nature of FAO’s female workforce. The Organization also created incentives for career prospects for female staff and for achieving gender parity at all levels and across all job categories.

Since 2009, IFAD has implemented a ‘household methodologies’ approach to reinforce the equal role and decision-making capacity of women within households, groups and communities. Evidence from Uganda, Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan and other countries has shown that women who take part in the program take up leadership roles in their organizations and communities, and have a greater voice in decision-making in their households. This has led to greater agricultural productivity.

Food security and gender inequality are closely linked with disadvantages beginning at a young age. In many countries boys and girls have very different childhoods. Boys eat first, are given more food than their sisters, do less housework and marry later. For girls, marriage and not school work can dominate their childhoods. The U.N. World Food Programme’s work in achieving gender equality begins at school where support or implementation of School Feeding programs in more than 70 countries contributes to increased school attendance of girls. This provides them greater access to education, reduces the risk of child marriage and other forms of gender-based violence, and increases future livelihood and leadership opportunities for girls.

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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. We believe that everyone can play a part in ending hunger.

IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided $23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 518 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA and @wfp_media

It’s been two years since Cyclone Idai ravaged central Mozambique, leaving destroyed lives and struggling communities in its wake. Since then, the vulnerable country has faced ongoing conflict, contested elections, drought and more devastating weather. 

Then, Cyclone Eloise made landfall in January of 2021,  destroying vital infrastructure and thousands of homes, dealing another devastating blow to families still trying to put their lives together after Cyclone Idai. In the north of the country, nearly 1 million people are facing a hunger crisis driven by violence, ongoing attacks from  climate shocks and skyrocketing food prices.

Here’s a look back at our story of recovery post-Idai, one year after the storm:  

BEIRA/JOHANNESBURG – A year after Cyclone Idai devastated much of central Mozambique, limited funding for essential reconstruction is preventing many of the hardest-hit people from getting back on their feet, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

In the weeks after the strongest storm to ever hit the country, the U.N. World Food Programme’s emergency assistance kick-started the recovery of 1.8 million people. But many others, who are still struggling today, face a bleak and uncertain future.

Last month, funding shortfalls forced the U.N. World Food Programme to halve food rations for 525,000 people working on post-Idai recovery projects in the province of Sofala, the most damaged by the cyclone. This month, that vital support will be halted completely unless the U.N. World Food Programme receives funds soon.

“For people who had their lives turned upside down, our projects – community farms, road and bridge repair, the rebuilding of schools – are a source of hope,” said Lola Castro, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Regional Director for Southern Africa. “This essential work must continue if we want to see real and lasting recovery,” Castro added.

The upcoming April-May harvest is expected to be relatively good in the region. However, few of the 250,000 families whose homes were damaged by the cyclone have been able to return to their villages, let alone rebuild.

The U.N. World Food Programme needs $91 million to be able to fully implement rehabilitation projects for Idai victims this year.

Many are subsistence farmers whose crops were wiped out last year and who were unable to replant in time for this year. Most are enduring “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity, meaning they do not eat enough, borrow what they can from relatives or friends, forage for less-than-nourishing wild foods, and continue to need outside help to survive.

Mozambique has one of the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in the world – afflicting 43 percent of children under five – while acute malnutrition is on the rise among Idai-affected communities. A rare outbreak of Pellagra, a disease triggered by Vitamin B3 deficiency, has sickened almost 4,000 people in Sofala, with the numbers increasing rapidly.

Given the country’s heavy dependence on rain-fed, small-scale farming and its vulnerability to climate change – as underscored by Cyclone Kenneth causing widespread devastation just six weeks after Idai – significantly more investment is needed in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

“Boosting Mozambicans’ ability to withstand the impacts of increasingly severe drought and flooding was the core of our work before the cyclones struck,” said Castro. “It’s what we must resume now, and, with partners, step up in the coming years.”

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The U.N. World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA and @wfp_Africa

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org): Steve Taravella, WFP/Washington, Tel. +1 202 653 1149

ROME – Hunger in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua has increased almost fourfold over the past two years – from 2.2 million people in 2018 to close to 8 million people in 2021 – a result of the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and years of extreme climate events. Of this figure, 1.7 million people are in the ‘Emergency’ category of food insecurity and require urgent food assistance.

“Considering the level of destruction and setbacks faced by those affected, we expect this to be a long and slow recovery,” said Miguel Barreto, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “2020 was a year to forget across the world, and even more so for communities in Central America that were dealt a series of blows.”

With homes and farms destroyed, food stocks running low and job opportunities shrinking, nearly 15 percent of people surveyed by the U.N. World Food Programme in January 2021 said that they were making concrete plans to migrate. In a 2018 post-drought assessment only eight percent of respondents indicated they were planning to migrate.

The record 2020 Atlantic hurricane season dealt a severe blow to millions who were previously relatively untouched by hunger, among them people dependent on the service economy, tourism and informal jobs. Hurricanes Eta and Iota that struck Central America in November 2020 upended the lives of 6.8 million people who lost their homes and livelihoods.

The hurricanes destroyed about 500,000 acres of staple food and cash crops in the four countries and around 25,000 acres of coffee farmland in Honduras and Nicaragua. The hurricanes struck as these communities were already dealing with job losses and a shrinking economy, a fallout of COVID-19.

The U.N. World Food Programme surveys estimate that food security in Central America nosedived as a result of COVID-19. The number of households that did not have enough to eat during COVID-19 nearly doubled in Guatemala compared to pre-pandemic numbers. In Honduras, it increased by more than 50 percent. An overwhelming majority of households in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador reported income losses or unemployment during the pandemic.

“Urban and rural communities in Central America have hit rock bottom. The COVID-19-induced economic crisis had already put food on the market shelves out of reach for the most vulnerable people when the twin hurricanes Eta and Iota battered them further,” said Barreto. “Many now have nowhere to live and are staying in temporary shelters, surviving on next to nothing.”

Communities in Central America have borne the brunt of a climate emergency, where consecutive years of drought and erratic weather have disrupted food production – especially staples like maize and beans, which depend heavily on regular rainfall.

The U.N. World Food Programme calls on the international community to support its efforts in Central America to provide urgent humanitarian assistance and to invest in long-term development projects and national social protection programs that help vulnerable communities withstand recurrent weather extremes and economic shocks.

The U.N. World Food Programme plans to assist 2.6 million people in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in 2021 and requires $47.3 million over the next six months.

Broadcast quality content with shot list can be found here.
High resolution photos can be found here.

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The U.N. World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA; @wfp_media; @wfp_es

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Shaza Moghraby, WFP/New York, Mob. + 1 929 289 9867
Steve Taravella, WFP/ Washington, Mob. +1 202 770 5993

HARARE – With millions of Zimbabweans devastated by a year of drought, rising hyperinflation and COVID-19, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed for an additional $204 million to support over four million of the most food insecure people over the next six months.

The appeal comes ahead of the ‘lean’ season, which risks pushing some 6.9 million people—nearly half of Zimbabwe’s population—into hunger by its March peak, according to the most recent national data. That includes roughly one-third of the rural population, who are expected to face “crisis” or “emergency” levels of hunger, and 2.3 million hungry urban dwellers.  Others are spared from falling deeper into acute hunger thanks to assistance from the U.N. World Food Programme and partners.

“More than half of Zimbabweans in rural areas are left with no choice  but to skip meals, reduce portions or sell off precious belongings in order to cope,” said Francesca Erdelmann, U.N. World Food Programme Zimbabwe representative. “We are deeply concerned that if the U.N. World Food Programme does not receive sufficient funding to reach  four million people, families will be further pushed to the limit.”

The funding would allow the U.N. World Food Programme to provide the minimum amount of emergency food assistance to the most vulnerable 3.5 million rural and 550,000 urban dwellers, complementing the response of Zimbabwe’s government and other partners.

At least 7.6 million people have fallen into poverty this year — a million more than in 2019, according to the recent ZimVAC rural livelihoods assessment. Hyperinflation – a feature of the country’s economic challenges – has pushed the prices of basics beyond the means of most Zimbabweans.

COVID-19’s fallout has exacerbated the situation – making it especially hard for poor families to afford a nutritious diet, with incomes drying up due to the lockdown.

Subsistence farming families, who make up three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s population and produce most of its food, are also hurting because of a third successive drought-hit harvest this year.

While the U.N. World Food Programme delivers and saves lives with urgently needed humanitarian assistance, its work in Zimbabwe links with a strong resilience agenda to forge and protect developmental gains.

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Photos available here

Video footage and case study stories available on request.

The U.N. World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media @WFP_Africa @WFP_Zimbabwe

For more information, contact:

Shaza Moghraby, WFP/New York, Mob. + 1 929 289 9867, shaza.moghraby@wfp.org
Steve Taravella, WFP/ Washington, Mob.  +1 202 770 5993, steve.taravella@wfp.org

Khartoum – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today joins its sister agencies in calling for global action to improve the systems that produce and distribute the food we eat, so that they can better withstand shocks including the COVID-19 pandemic that can spark alarming surges in the level of hunger in the world.

In many countries, including Sudan, the socio-economic effects of the pandemic – particularly loss of earnings and remittances – are heightening existing threats linked to conflict and climate change. The number of acutely hungry people in the world could increase by more than 100 million this year, according to U.N. World Food Programme estimates. For particularly fragile countries, a slide towards famine is a real risk.

“‘The world produces enough food for everyone so it’s a problem not of scarcity but of access to nutritious and affordable food,” said U.N. World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley,  “Small-scale farmers in developing nations need support so they can grow crops in a more sustainable way, then store and transport their produce to markets, and ultimately improve their own livelihoods. When food moves from the farm, along the supply chain and onto people’s plates in a fair and efficient way, then everyone benefits.”

The U.N. World Food Programme, which last week won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to fight hunger, has unparalleled experience in buying and distributing food. Every year, the U.N. World Food Programme increases the amount of food it procures locally from small-scale farmers, providing training in post-harvest storage and in how to access markets. The aim is to build dynamic food systems which contribute to community-based agricultural growth and the strengthening of national economies.

The need for concerted action to improve agricultural production while enhancing global supply chains and ending food waste is captured in this year’s World Food Day theme: “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.”  The three Rome-based agencies – the U.N. World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – are calling for sustainable investment in food systems to achieve healthy diets for all. Without massive improvements in the food supply chain, many fragile nations are set to become increasingly vulnerable to financial volatility and climate shocks.

In Sudan, food insecurity remains alarmingly high with some 9.6 million people estimated to be food insecure. This is the highest figure ever recorded in Sudan. Sudan has also witnessed historic flooding in recent months that has devastated homes, destroyed vast swaths of farmlands and crops, and affected more than 875,000 people.

The economic crisis and inflation are also posing challenges to food security in Sudan. The average price of the local food basket has increased by nearly 200 per cent compared to 2019, making it even harder for families to put food on their plates.

“Combined, these multiple crises can further increase food insecurity and risk pushing millions of people into poverty. But if we take concerted action now, we can build a future we want – a world free of hunger. We remain committed to working with all our partners in Sudan, including the Government, to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030,” said U.N. World Food Programme Representative and Country Director in Sudan Dr. Hameed Nuru.

No one government or organization can achieve these goals alone. More than ever, there is a need for global solidarity to help all people, and especially the most vulnerable, to confront the crises facing the planet – multiple conflicts, climate change and COVID-19.

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The U.N. World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter: @WFPUSA @wfp_mena or @WFP_Sudan

For more information, contact:

  • Leni Kinzli, WFP/Khartoum, Tel: +249 912002000, Ext 2125, Mobile: +249 91 722 1269, leni.kinzli@wfp.org
  • Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, WFP/Khartoum, Tel: +249912002000, Ext 2123, Mobile: +249 91 216 7055, abdulaziz.abdulmomin@wfp.org

ROME/JOHANNESBURG – With COVID-19 aggravating an already severe hunger crisis in Zimbabwe, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed for an additional $250 million to support a rapidly expanding emergency operation for millions at-risk.

U.N. World Food Programme projections indicate that by year’s end, the number of food insecure Zimbabweans will have surged by almost 50 percent to touch 8.6 million – a staggering 60 percent of the population – owing to the combined effects of drought, economic recession and the pandemic.

“Many Zimbabwean families are suffering the ravages of acute hunger, and their plight will get worse before it gets better,” said Lola Castro, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Regional Director for Southern Africa. “We need the international community to step up now to help us prevent a potential humanitarian catastrophe.”

A nationwide lockdown, reinforced last week, has precipitated massive joblessness in urban areas, while rural hunger is accelerating because now unemployed migrants are returning to their villages and the absence of the vital remittances they provided is more keenly felt.

Subsistence farming families who make up three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s population and produce most of its food are also hurting because of a third successive drought-hit harvest this year. It yielded only 1.1 million metric tons of corn, the staple cereal, well down on last year’s already poor 2.4 million metric tons and less than half the national requirement. This, in turn, presages even more severe hunger in early 2021, the peak of the next “lean” season.

Hyperinflation is a feature of the country’s profound economic crisis and has pushed the prices of basics beyond the means of many Zimbabweans. Last month, corn prices more than doubled in Harare, the capital. Increasingly desperate families are eating less, selling off precious belongings and going into debt.

With corn set to be an increasingly untenable crop in many arid regions of the country as temperatures rise, the U.N. World Food Programme is promoting the cultivation of drought-resistant, nutritious and indigenous alternatives like sorghum and millet. This is part of a broader campaign to help vulnerable communities build resilience to increasingly frequent and severe climate shocks.

Donations permitting, the U.N. World Food Programme intends to assist 4 million of the most vulnerable people this year – those suffering “crisis” and “emergency” hunger – and scale up to 5 million in January-April next year, the peak of the lean season.

As the already dire situation worsens, more contributions are urgently needed. This month, for lack of funding, the U.N. World Food Programme will only reach 700,000 of 1.8 million intended recipients.


Photos and video available here and more available on request.

Story of a mother from Harare available here.

The U.N. World Food Programme is grateful to donors supporting its emergency response to COVID-19 in Zimbabwe, including the United States, the United Kingdom, CERF, the European Commission, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany.

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The U.N. World Food Programme – saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.

Follow us on Twitter: @WFPUSA, @wfp_media, @wfp_Africa, @wfp_zimbabwe

JUBA – Recurring violence in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area in the eastern part of South Sudan has already displaced more than 60,000 people and is crippling the food security and livelihoods of growing numbers of people, two United Nations agencies warned today.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are concerned that the violence has halted farming, which will slash harvests for the rest of the year as well as depriving communities of livestock as a source of nutrition.

In addition, the violence has led to the looting of humanitarian food assistance that was meant to support the most vulnerable people.

“At the height of the main planting season, insecurity is preventing farmers from going to their fields to cultivate food crops and livestock keepers are not able to follow their traditional migratory patterns to graze their animals,” said Meshack Malo, FAO Representative in South Sudan.

“When cattle raiding is part of the violence, communities lose animals essential to their livelihoods and cannot participate in productive agricultural activities, leading to greater food security,” he added.

“We simply cannot replace the calories milk gives to children when livestock is taken and a year’s worth of milk is lost, and we barely have sufficient resources to meet current needs,” said Matthew Hollingworth, U.N. World Food Programme Country Director in South Sudan. “There will be no victors in this conflict: this violence risks causing long-term calamitous food insecurity across this region, for the rest of this year.”

More than 430 metric tons of U.N. World Food Programme food supplies have been lost from the looting of WFP and partner warehouses in the affected areas.

According to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, the Pibor Administrative Area now faces emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 4).  Earlier this year, three Jonglei counties had people who were classified in a “catastrophe” level of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5).

Their food security was only expected to improve if consistent humanitarian food assistance could be provided. But this has proved impossible because of the fighting in the area.

The violence in eastern South Sudan is adding to the number of hungry people just when the country is currently in its annual lean season with at least 6.5 million people – more than half the entire population – facing severe acute food insecurity and in need of humanitarian assistance.

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About FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

About WFP
The U.N. World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA, @WFP_SouthSudan and @WFP_Africa

Contact:

  • WFP: Musa Mahadi, +211 929992054; musa.mahadi@wfp.org
  • FAO: Tanya Birkbeck, +211 920490149; Tanya.Birkbeck@fao.org

Vientiane – Rice and lentils from the United States arrived in Laos this week and were received by the U.S. Ambassador to Lao PDR, Dr. Peter M. Haymond, today at WFP’s Vientiane warehouse.

The donation consists of 68 containers of rice and 4 containers of lentils (1,290 metric tons in total) and will be used to cook school lunches for some 90,000 primary school children in rural areas of Lao PDR starting with the next term in September. For many children, this plate of hot food is the only daily nutritious meal they will receive, a meal that they had to manage without during the recent seven-week school closures due to the COVID pandemic.

“I am so proud that despite the challenges everyone is facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is continuing to support daily school lunches for primary school students in the Lao PDR. School lunches are proven to help students achieve better academic results, and encourage higher attendance for all students, especially females and underrepresented groups. The United States stands together with the people and the Government of Laos to support the pursuit of this country’s development goals,” said Ambassador Haymond.

Since 2008, the U.S. Government’s McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has been supporting WFP school meals program in Laos. With a total of more than $60 million contribution, McGovern-Dole has helped more than 1.5 million children access daily nutritious lunches through WFP’s school meals program.

In order to shift to long-term, nationally-run school feeding programs, WFP has started handing over the supported schools to the government, with about 500 schools already integrated into the national school meals program to date. WFP is continuing to provide technical assistance to the government beyond the handover. In addition, WFP has made extra efforts to ensure and widen local supply of food to schools and community ownership. A specific program, also supported by USDA, has focused on linking school meals to local agricultural production. Currently, all 925 WFP-supported schools receive contributions of vegetables and greens from local farmers and school gardens.

“WFP’s school meals program is a social safety net for many poor and vulnerable families in Laos,” said Jan Delbaere, WFP Country Director and Representative. “We have learned that during the lockdown, poor households have the most acute challenges in accessing food. As schools are gradually reopening, we are attaching utmost importance to safe, hygienic standards and physical distancing measures all throughout our logistics chain up to the delivery of school meals in the villages. At the same time, we are doing our best to ensure families can keep their children in school by guaranteeing a healthy school meal. We are thankful for the United States as our long-standing partner in support of school children and rural families in Laos, especially in these uncertain times,” he said.

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The United Nations World Food Programme – saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media @WFPUSA

For more information please contact:

  • Ildiko Hamos, Partnerships and Communications Coordinator, ildiko.hamos@wfp.org, Tel. +856 (0)21 330 300 ext. 2229
  • Vilakhone Sipaseuth, Communications Officer, vilakhone.sipaseuth@wfp.org, Tel. +856 (0)21 330 300 ext. 2930

HAITI IN CRISIS

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Violent conflict is driving Haitians from their homes and into hunger. Children are especially at risk. They need food now – before it’s too late.

HAITI IN CRISIS

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