Alla mia forza di volontà. A questa città, Padova, che sarà per sempre parte della mia essenza.

To my willpower. To this city, Padova, that will be forever part of my essence.

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Contents

Introduction ...... 6

Chapter I United Nations World Food Programme. The birth of WFP ...... 8

1.1 Historical background. Antecedents: FAO’s pioneering work ...... 8 1.2 UN World Food Programme’s birth ...... 16 1.3 1960s: Initiatives at United Nations ...... 20 “We began 2011 with even greater challenges, but with the 1.4 Food aid during the Second UN Development Decade of the 1970s ...... 22 confidence that ending hunger is possible. 1.5 Food for Development: institutionalizing project food aid ...... 28 1.6 WFP Emergency and Relief Operations ...... 31 We will continue to adapt and transform the way we work to meet the immediate needs of the hungry today Chapter II Fighting Hunger Worldwide ...... 35 2.1 Current and previous WFP Executive Directors ...... 35 and to be a leader in crafting with governments and partners 2.2 UN World Food Programme’s Vision and Mission Statement. United Nation’s system against coherent, long term hunger solution for tomorrow”. hunger...... 36 2.3 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ...... 41 2.4 World Hunger ...... 43 2.5 WFP Strategic Plan (2008-2011) ...... 46

2.6 Strategic Objective Four: Reduce Chronic Hunger and Undernutrition ...... 51 Josette Sheeran Chapter III Food for Development: School Feeding Programme ...... 54 Executive Director 3.1 Today’s School Feeding Policy (2008-2011) ………………………………………………...... 54 United Nation World Food Programme 3.2 WFP’s Guiding Standards ...... 57 3.3 Sustainability through capacity development ...... 58

Chapter IV Emergency Operations (EMOPs) and Protracted Relief Operations (PRROs): policies and principles ...... 62 4.1 Emergency Operations ………………………………………………………………………………. 62 4.2 Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations ...... 66

Chapter V Case Study: The Transition Process of School feeding in El Salvador ...... 69 5.1 Overview ………………………………………………………………………………….………..... 69 5.2 A successful handover experience ………………………………………………………….……….. 73

5.3 The current status of School Feeding in El Salvador ...... 74

5.3.1 The National Policy Framework ...... 75 5.3.2 The Institutional Framework ...... 75 5.3.3 The Financial Framework ...... 76 5.3.4 Programme design and implementation ...... 77 5.3.5 School- level arrangements and infrastructure ...... 78 5.4 A preliminary study of the transition process of School feeding in El Salvador ...... 79 5.4.1 The transition process: milestones ...... 79

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5.4.2 Steps of the process in El Salvador ...... 80 Introduction

Chapter VI Case Study: first WFP Emergency Operations. Report on Iran, Thailand, Algeria, Morocco, Tanganyika ...... 83 6.1 Iran ...... 83 The world has been able to produce enough food to provide every citizen 6.2 Thailand ...... 85 with an adequate diet to lead a healthy, active and productive life. Yet 6.3 Algeria ...... 86 6.4 Morocco ...... 86 the hungry-poor (those earning less than the equivalent of one dollar a 6.5 Tanganyika ...... 87 day, or who spend most of their income on food) do not have enough to

Chapter VII Interviews ...... 89 eat. The co-existence of hunger with the capacity to end it is one of the 7.1 Interview with Mr. Ramiro Armando de Oliveira Lopes da Silva, WFP Deputy Executive Director for gravest paradoxes of our time. It is not only morally repugnant and External Relations ...... 89 7.2 Interview with Mr. Amir Mahmoud Abdulla, WFP Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating unacceptable but politically, economically, and socially indefensible. Officer ...... 101 Poverty is the underlying cause of hunger. Other factors, including 7.3 Interview with Mrs. Ilaria Dettori, Chief School Feeding Programme Design and Support Division ...... 113 political irresponsibility, corruption, civil unrest, ethic and religious 7.4 Interview with Mr. Carlo Scaramella, El Salvador ex Country Director ...... 123 conflict, sudden natural disasters, and prolonged and wide-spread 7.5 Interview with Mr. Marco Selva, Private Partnerships Manager. Communication, Public Policy and Private Partnerships Division ...... 128 drought, have compounded further the problem of poverty, and thereby

hunger. Food is vital in the affairs of all nations, particularly in poor, Appendices ...... 132 Dramatis Personae ...... 145 food-deficit countries with inadequate food production or insufficient Acknowledgements …….……………………………….....………………………...…………………….. 152 foreign exchange to import the food they need. For the poor, food Ringraziamenti ...... 154 Bibliography ...... 156 insecure people in those countries, the quest for food pervades their daily lives. Food aid should be oriented towards the objective of eventually eradicating hunger and poverty. It should also have as its basic objective its own elimination to help countries and people toward self-reliance and enable people to feed themselves. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was created in 1961 as the organization in the United Nations system concerned exclusively with food aid, thereby providing an additional dimension to multilateral assistance. From the beginning of its operations in1963, WFP’s mandate has been to use food aid to support economic and social development, provide food and associated logistics support in times of emergency, and generally promote world food security.

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Today, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest Chapter I humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. WFP works United Nation World Food Programme towards this vision with its sister UN agencies in Rome – the Food and The birth of WFP Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for

Agricultural Development (IFAD) – as well as other government, UN and NGO partners. Food security and agricultural development are major 1.1 Historical background. challenges facing the world today. Antecedents: FAO’s pioneering work Paul Tergat, 37, knows from personal experience how difficult it is for children to concentrate at school on an empty stomach. Born in a family The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest of 17 children, he grew up in the arid Rift Valley in Northern Kenya. humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Although Tergat was one of the lucky ones who had a place at school, as WFP has its antecedents in the various attempts to set up some form of a small boy he often had to attend classes hungry. His life changed in multilateral world food security arrangements since the time of the 1977 at the age of eight, when the United Nations World Food League of Nations before the Second World War. These attempts tried to Programme (WFP) started distributing free school meals in the district rationalize food production, supply and trade for the benefit of both where he lived. producers and consumers, in developing and developed countries. They It was from these lunches that Tergat gained the energy to run the three focused attention on two basic concerns: first, to reconcile the interests mile trek from his home to the Riwo Primary School and back again. of producers and consumers by protecting them from uncontrolled Doing so, kick-started his spectacular athletic career. fluctuations in world agricultural production and prices; secondly, to use “Without food, it’s very difficult to walk to school, let alone concentrate agricultural output in excess of commercial market demand (the so- on our studies” he says. called agricultural “surpluses”) to assist economic and social In January 2004, Paul became a WFP Ambassador Against Hunger. He development in developing countries, without creating disincentive to now uses his fame as an international athlete and world-record holder to their domestic agricultural production or disruption to local or raise awareness of the same school feeding programme that helped set international trade. him on the road to success. The pre-history of WFP is closely tied up with the work of FAO in “School children around the world must have the opportunity to pursue Rome, Italy, the United Nations in New York, the United States their dreams” he says. agricultural and foreign policy and the interests of the World Bank in

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Washington, DC. We will see that WFP owes its origins to the initiative approved. In 1949, the proposal was revived in the modified form of an of one man, George McGovern. Similarly, one man was to figure “International Commodity Clearing House” (ICCH), as an action arm of prominently in the pre-history of WFP, and in the work and studies FAO. The ICCH proposal was turned down just as decisively as the leading up to its establishment. That man was Dr. Hans Singer, who, in previous proposal. The major industrialized countries were adamantly 1940, was a senior official in the Economic and Social department of the opposed to any centralized and multilateral world food management United Nations secretariat in New York. Singer had a major impact on arrangement. While these attempts by the ICCH were unsuccessful, the the international food aid debate. He also played a strategic role in the FAO secretariat continued to keep the issues alive through a series of establishment of WFP. The origins of multilateral food aid can be traced seminal studies and reports throughout the 1950s. Three publications to two meetings that took place in 1943. In May of that year, US were to have particular relevance when WFP was eventually established President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened a meeting at Hot Springs, in 1961. The first concerned the identification of principles and Virginia, which laid the foundation for the creation of the Food and guidelines for the disposal of agricultural surpluses, first adopted in 1954 Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO). In November, an in the face of growing food surplus in the United States, which became agreement was signed in Washington, DC, which led to the known as FAO Principles of Surplus Disposal. These principles, which establishment of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation were not legally binding but provided “consultative obligation”, were to Administration (UNRRA), the first significant “experiment” of a form the cornerstone for all WFP’s activities. Three general principles multilateral agency to deal with food aid. were recommended. The solution to problems of agricultural surpluses From its inception in 1945, FAO persistently advocated the should be sought, wherever possible, through efforts to increase establishment of some form of world food security arrangement and the consumption, rather than through measures to restrict supplies. Disposal constructive use of surplus agricultural commodities for development of excess stocks of agricultural products should be done in an orderly and emergency relief in developing countries. Equally important was the manner to avoid sharp falls in process on world markets. And, there avoidance of potentially destructive effects through the dumping of should be an undertaking from both importing and exporting countries unwanted surpluses in developing countries, thereby impeding that disposal of surpluses would be made without harmful interference to agricultural development and trade. The first FAO director-general, Sir normal patterns of agricultural production and international trade. John Boyd Orr, took a proactive stance on both issues. The second FAO study concerned the use of agricultural surpluses to A first step was to form an “International Emergency Food Council”, a finance economic development in developing countries, based on the body with powers to cope with the immediate, short-term chaos caused result of a pilot investigation in India (FAO, 1955). This study laid the by war devastation in Europe and Asia. But a more far-reaching proposal foundation for a project approach in the use of food aid, subsequently was to establish a “World Food Board”. The proposal was considered at adopted by WFP. The results of the study show in detail how large the first FAO conference at Copenhagen in September, 1946 but was not amounts of capital represented by food surpluses could be used to

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finance a general expansion of investment programmes in developing he could best express himself to mounting international concern by countries. The third FAO study detailed a proposal for the establishment quoting from one of his favourite poets, John Donne: of an International Emergency Food Reserve. “One man’s hunger is every man’s hunger – one man’s freedom from A number of resolutions were adopted by the FAO Council and hunger is neither a free nor a secure freedom until all men are free from Conference on these and related subjects. These were passed onto the hunger” 1 UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN General These words were taken as key to the entire campaign. Assembly for action, which led to nothing. The main reason for the lack In the context of FAO’s Freedom for Hunger Campaign, a resolution was of progress was the reluctance of governments, mainly in developed adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 1960 on the countries, to approve measures that might weaken their national “Provision of Food Surpluses to Food-Deficient People through the 2 initiatives and powers of control. The climate of opinion was against United Nation System” (Resolution 1946 -XVI) , which invited FAO, in multilateral action in operational fields, distinct from advisory or consultation with others, to establish “without delay” procedures by informational roles. However, persistence eventually paid off. which, with the assistance of the United Nation system, “the largest The 1960s began with an entirely new approach in the quest for world practicable quantities of surplus food may be made available on food security on the initiative of a new FAO director-general, from the mutually agreeable terms as a transitional measure against hunger”. Asia region, Binay Ranjan Sen, popularly known as B.R. Sen. FAO was invited to submit a study of the subject for approval. The idea of mounting a world campaign against hunger was on Sen’s The FAO director general, B.R.Sen, appointed a small group of “high- mind when he became FAO’s director-general in 1956. At the summer level, independent experts” to assist him in preparing the study. Hans session of ECOSOC in 1957, he sketched out the main objectives of a Singer was appointed as its chairman. “Freedom for Hunger Campaign” (FFHC), which were: to attract The whole emphasis of this report was to deal with the surplus problem worldwide attention to the problem; to secure the participation and co- not by curtailing production, but by expanding demand. In the spirit of operation of all concerned; to achieve a degree of enthusiasm and optimism, the group considered that the resources to implement a far- anticipation, which would result in more effective national and reaching programme were already available. In its opinion, a transfer of international action; and, in the process, establish a higher level of two-thirds to three-quarters of one per cent of the Gross National mutually profitable world trade to help raise the prosperity of both Products (GNP) of the developed countries over a period of five years, developed and developing countries. and probably less for another decade, would provide sufficient means for The FFHC was officially launched on 1 July 1960. Sen explained that he helping people in the developing countries to help themselves. This made FFHC the central theme of all FAO activities during his time as would represent a much smaller international redistribution of income director-general (1956-67). When he initiated the campaign, he felt that 1 D. JOHN SHAW, “World Food Security. A history since 1945”, Palgrave, 2007, pp. 77ss. 2 See Appendices - Attachment I “UN General Assembly Resolution 1496 (XVI) Provision of Food Surpluses to Food-Deficient People through the United Nation System”, 27 October 1960.

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than the national redistribution of income achieved by progressive identified: Land Reform Programmes, School Feeding Programmes, taxation within most of the developed countries, when they were less Training Programmes, Relief and Welfare Programmes. rich than they were in 1961. Food aid from the food surplus that existed School Feeding programmes should be supported at a cost of about $500 was seen to be an important part of the resources needed for economic million a year as a part of the process of human capital formation, which development in the developing countries. had come to be recognized as a basic necessity for economic A central part of the expert group’s case was that surplus food products development, and as productive as physical capital formation. The better could form an important part of capital in its original sense of a feeding of school children was seen as a move in the direction of greater “Subsistence Fund”. The group estimated that about $12,500 million of equality of opportunity, which was regarded as a basic step in fostering agricultural commodities would become available as “surpluses” over a self-help and economic development. Around $7,000 million per year five-year period for use outside normal commercial market channels, was required to feed all children between the ages of 5 and 14 in either bilaterally or through the United Nation system. It recommended developing countries with a single meal a day of 60 grams of wheat and that about two-thirds of these resources should be used in economic 25 grams of dried skimmed milk. The availability of meals would development programmes and one third for social development. encourage school attendance and improve food habits. Between $1,550 million and $1,650 million of surplus food a year might While the major part of international aid would continue to be provided be used for Economic Development Programmes over a five-year period. bilaterally, the expert group recommended that it should be supplied The aim would be to provide developing countries with a positive within a Multilateral Framework. A consultative, multilateral framework incentive for maximum national efforts to increase their rate of growth. would assure that bilateral and international aid activities would be A small part of the total surplus food should be allocated for the provided within coherent and consistent country programmes of establishment of National Food Reserves in developing countries to the assistance. For incorporating the use of surplus food into development extent that they could equip themselves with the appropriate storage programmes, and advising on the general economic requirements of the facilities and institutional and logistical arrangements to manage and developing countries, FAO should work closely with the United Nations, handle the reserves. In addition, an International Emergency Food and particularly with its Regional Economic Commission in Africa, Asia Reserve should be established to provide relief food grants to the victims and Latin America. To ensure that surplus food was combined with of famine and other physical disasters. The group estimated that about additional financial and technical aid in packages of assistance, FAO and $150 million a year would be required for this purpose. It was to take the United Nations should work closely with such financial institutions another 14 years before an International Emergency Food Reserve was as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) established in 1975. and the newly established soft-lending facility of the World Bank, The Resources should also be made available to promote Social International Development Association (IDA). Much of the technical and Development. Four types of social development programmes were training work involved, as well as pilot projects and surveys, could lead

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to action by the United Nations Special Fund and the Expanded the expert group had submitted its report to the FAO director-general in Programme of Technical Assistance of the United Nations (EPTA), later February 1961, WFP was established as an experimental programme. to be merged to become the United Nations Development Program (UNPD). 1.2 UN World Food Programme’s Birth. The vital function of Country Programming for external assistance, including food aid, was highlighted, anticipating by more than three We have seen that Dr. Hans Singer figured in the prehistory of WFP, and decades the country programme approach that was adopted by WFP. A in the work and studies leading up to its establishment. Similarly, we country programme, not a project approach would determine the criteria shall see that WFP owes its origins to the initiative of George Mc for the productive use of aid capital, including food aid, and would be a Govern. guard against fungibility3. The birth of WFP in 1961, in fact, was due to the inspiration of George The views of the expert group were taken fully into account in the report McGovern, who at the time, was the first director of the newly created of the FAO director general to ECOSOC. Although a number of their Office of Food for Peace in the Executive Office of United States recommendations were well in advance of their time, their value was President John F. Kennedy and special assistant to him. subsequently recognized4. As we have seen, The United Nations General Assembly passed a The expert’s report was well received by officials in key positions in the resolution on the “Provision of food surpluses to food-deficient peoples United States. In a memorandum to President Kennedy, the US through the United Nations system”. The director-general of FAO was ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai E. Stevenson, described it as invited to undertake a study of how this might be done. “One of the most remarkable documents on the subject”5. Before submitting the study for approval, this was discussed by a FAO Joint proposals were made by the UN and FAO regarding procedures Intergovernmental Advisory Committee in Rome between 5 and 12 April and arrangements for the multilateral utilization of surplus food, 1961. including the establishment of “Surplus Utilization Fund” to be President Kennedy requested George McGovern to represent the United administered by a joint “UN/FAO Surplus Utilization Division”, later to States at the meeting. McGovern suggested to the other members of the be called the World Food Programme and the WFP secretariat US delegation that a concrete proposal should be made to the respectively. The political climate was that within less than a year after Intergovernmental Advisory Committee in order to move the process

forward. He persisted. 3 SHAW D. JOHN, The UN World Food Programme and the development of food aid, New York, Palgrave, 2001, pp. 19 – 27. Although Mc Govern had not discussed the proposal with President 4 Writing over 20 years later, Singer recognized that the expert group’s report did not deal with a number of important areas, including: man-made emergencies; nutrition; improvement for mothers and preschools Kennedy before he left Rome, he felt that it reflected the president’s children; and the use of triangular transaction for providing food aid. (SINGER, 1983, p.37) 5 Memorandum to President Kennedy from Adlai Stevenson, US ambassador to the United Nations, 31 November 1961, in Adlay E. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1961-1965, Vol. VIII, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1979, pg. 149.

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views regarding a broader and more constructive use of food aid and his Advisory Committee on 10 April 1961. Kennedy gave the proposal his strong support for the United Nations. personal endorsement at a press conference on 21 April 1961. The multilateral food aid programme that McGovern proposed was Looking back at his initiative, McGovern still regarded the proposal with circumscribed in a number of ways. It was to be limited to $100 million satisfaction. It represented the best possible pragmatic political action at in commodities and cash when, in 1961, the value of farm products the time. shipped under the United States food aid programme alone was $1.3 The United States reiterated the proposal at the FAO Council meeting in billion and US surpluses in stock had reached 112 million tons. It was Rome in June 1961. The proposal was incorporated into parallel restricted to three years, and to be conducted on an experimental basis, resolutions that were passed by the FAO Conference and the United with a decision on its continuation dependent on an evaluation of Nations General Assembly on 24 November and 19 December 1961 experience. The activities of the experimental programme were to be respectively that resulted in the establishment of WFP, if only on a three- restricted to meeting emergencies and to pilot development projects, year experimental basis. WFP was born. such as school lunch and labour-intensive projects. They were not to In December 1961, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and include large-scale, bulk, programme food aid that the United States and the UN General Assembly adopted parallel resolutions establishing other donor governments were providing bilaterally. The proposal WFP. reflected perfectly the three dominant forces that fashioned Mc Govern’s The UN General Assembly Resolution 17146 approved “the overriding philosophy throughout his public life: support the American establishment of an experimental World Food Programme to be farmers; the constructive use of food surpluses; and resolving undertaken jointly by the United Nations and the Food and Agricultural international problems through the medium of the United Nations. Organization of the United Nations, in co-operation with other interested It was to be a truly multilateral program with the widest possible United Nations agencies and appropriate inter-governmental bodies, contribution by member countries. bearing in mind that the establishment of such a programme in no way FAO, and its general-director in particular, were given a major role in the would have prejudiced the bilateral agreement between developed and proposed new multilateral programme. This was in recognition of FAO’s developing countries and accepted and endorsed the purposes, mandate and early work on food surplus concerns and issues, and principles and procedures formulated in the first part of the resolution confidence in the ability of FAO director-general, B.R. Sen, to run the approved by the Conference of Food and Agricultural Organization on proposed programme effectively. 24 November 19617.” For his part, Sen recognized the strategic role that McGovern played in progressing on his study concerning multilateral food aid and facility. McGovern’s proposal caught the delegates from other countries by 6 See Appendices - Attachment II “UN General Assembly Resolution 1714 (XVI) World Food Programme”, 19 December 1961. surprise when, the proposal was accepted by the Intergovernmental 7 ivi.

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The three-year experimental programme was not due to enter into The pioneering zeal and spirit of optimism was carried forward into the operation until January 1963. The experimental years (1963-1965) were continuing phase of WFP’s activities. At the pledging conference for to have a profound effect on WFP activities for most of the next decades. WFP resources for another three years, 1966-8, the United States Three “bodies of evidence” had an influence on whether the programme representative said: should continue after the experimental period. First, were the activities “With the future in mind, we urge that the work toward a further expansion conducted by WFP during the experimental period. Second, were the of the World Food Programme. The task we face is enormous – but not findings of a study programme that was requested in the United Nations impossible. We have made a good start. The spirit of the World Food 9 General Assembly resolution approving the experimental programme. Programme is a positive force for the benefit of mankind. .” And third, was the support given to WFP both within and outside the United Nations system, and by the activities of the bilateral food aid 1.3 1960s: Initiatives at the United Nations programmes, particularly that of the United States. The focus during the experimental period was to gain sufficient A number of initiatives taken at the United Nations in New York were to experience, in a short period of time, to qualify WFP for continuation. directly and indirectly have an influence on the establishment of WFP. At the end of WFP’s experimental period on 31 December 1965, 101 The two most significant were: a proposal to set up a UN Special Fund countries had participated in the experiment as donors or recipients, or for Economic Development (SUNFED); and President Kennedy’s both. Total resources contributed to WFP reached $93.7 million. During proposal to make the 1960s a “United Nations Development Decade”. the first three years of the experimental period, 32 emergency operations 9 UN Special Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED) were carried out in 25 countries, and 116 development projects were Negotiations went on throughout the 1950s to establish a soft-lending supported in a wide variety of economic and social development sectors. multilateral financing facility at the UN to assist developing countries It was estimated that 200,000 workers were employed in WFP-assisted undertake their development programmes. SUNFED was not approved, development projects in 1965 alone, the last year of the experimental mainly due to the opposition in the United States. However, the proposal period. As WFP provided rations to a worker and his family, about one was later adopted by the International Bank for Reconstruction and million people benefited directly from the Programme’s assistance, and Development (IBRD) in the form of its financing window, the more indirectly from the work programmes carried out, giving an International Development Association (IDA), despite the initial indication of the potential scope of the future activities of the opposition from bank staff, particularly its president, Eugene Black, who Programme.8

9 Statement by United State’s secretary of agriculture, Orville L. Freeman, at the pledging conference at the 8 SHAW D. JOHN, The UN World Food Programme and the development of food aid, New York, Palgrave, United Nations, New York, 18 January 1966. Public Statements of Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. 2001, pg. 62. Freeman. Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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feared that the provision of soft loans would undermine its main lending Nations’ existing efforts in promoting economic growth can be expanded operations and its financial viability10. and coordinated. New research, technical assistance and pilot projects can 9 United Nations Development Decade unlock the wealth of less developed lands and untapped waters. And WFP was born in the halcyon days of the United Nations. The first development can become a cooperative and not a competitive enterprise – United Nations Development Decade of the 1960s, proposed by United to enable all nations, however diverse in their systems and beliefs, to 12 States President John F. Kennedy, had just been launched. A newly become in fact as well as in law free and equal nations . accepted principle of international solidarity and burden-sharing in The UN General Assembly approved Kennedy’s proposal, which created development co-operation had expressed itself in a greater willingness to the “atmosphere” for positive action that helped in the approval of the give assistance to developing countries. In this inspiring, international new World Food Programme. In the “Proposal for Action” to be environment, the United States made the original, politically bipartisan implemented during the development decade that were published by the proposal for the establishment of a multilateral facility for food aid United Nations in 1962, after the decision to establish WFP on an within the United Nations system. experimental basis had been made, reference was made to the roles that In his address to the UN General Assembly on 25 September 1961, WFP could play in meeting emergencies and in supporting development President Kennedy said: projects. A number of new approaches were also identified, which were “Political sovereignty is but a mockery without the means of meeting relevant for the planning of WFP activities. These included: the concept poverty and illiteracy and disease. Self-determination is but a slogan if the of national planning for social as well as economic development; the future holds no hope. That is why my Nation, which has freely shared its importance of the human factor in the development and in the urgent capital and technology to help others help themselves, now proposes need to mobilize human resources; and the need to tackle the problem of officially designating the decade of the 1960s as the United Nations Decade under-employment and unemployment that existed throughout the of Development. Under the framework of that Resolution11, the United developing world. The underlying theme was co-ordinated and cohesive action in which the various UN bodies combined their resources in 10 In the 1960s, when acting as an adviser to the then UN secretary–general, Dag Hammarskjold, Singer drafted a proposal that the IBRD should be responsible for targeting food aid towards the reconstruction and national programmes of assistance at country level. the development projects it was supporting. This would have resulted in a fusing of financial and food aid in works programmes that Singer also advocated later in jointly-funded projects between the Bank and WFP. Hammarkjold contacted the then president of the IBRD, Eugene Black, proposing that the Bank establish a separate management division to undertake multilateral food aid. The proposal was declined. The schism between multilateral soft financing and food aid, with the former going to the World Bank and the latter to WFP, was to have lasting negative repercussions. It was to result in a lower level of co-ordination of financial and food aid than might have otherwise occurred, to the mutual detriment of both types of assistance. It was also to result in different methods of appraisal, operational procedures and evaluation, even mind-sets, and odious comparisons, in which food aid came to be regarded as a “second class” resource. This also reflected the state of affairs in bilateral aid programmes where food aid was handled differently from other forms of assistance, by separate administrative units, and special legislative, financial and operating procedures, inhibiting the fusion of the different forms of aid. On the other hand, the birth of WFP might be seen, as a part of a wider compromise in which food aid and pre-investment financing were given to the United Nations as “consolation prizes” for the loss of financing facility to the World Bank. SHAW D. .JOHN, The UN World Food Programme and the development of food aid, New York, Palgrave, 2001, pg. 27ss. 11 See Appendices - Attachment III “ UN General Assembly Resolution 1715 (XVI) United Nations 12 SHAW D. JOHN, The UN World Food Programme and the development of food aid, Palgrave, New York, Development Decade. A programme for international economic co-operation (II)”. 2001, pg.28.

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1.4 Food aid during the Second UN Development Decade 1970s as a promising avenue for significant increase in overall aid of the 1970s resources. An additional motive was to provide another opportunity to consider the various proposals for transforming WFP so that it might

become a major force in world food aid. Six months after the UN During preparations for the implementation of the First UN secretary-general’s multilateral food aid study was completed, the UN Development Decade of the 1960s, WFP was seen as representing an General Assembly passed another Resolution on “Multilateral Food experimental extension of the idea of multilateral aid in terms of physical Aid”15 (Resolution 2462). On this occasion, the resolution was commodities. Developed countries were urged to think more about the specifically directed to WFP’s governing body, the Intergovernmental possibility of bringing their surplus resources and capacities to bear on Committee (IGC). The resolution called on the IGC to give its views on the promotion of development in developing countries. While WFP was four specific issues: the UN secretary-general’s studies on multilateral still a fledgling organization, calls for its significant modification and food aid; recommendations on food aid and related issues to assist in enlargement were made. UN General Assembly Resolution 209613 was preparations for the second UN Development Decade; ways and means passed in December 1965 which called on the UN secretary-general, in of improving WFP, including resource allocations to WFP from the Food cooperation with FAO director-general, to undertake a comprehensive Aid Convention (FAC) of 1967; and finally, examination of the possible study of multilateral food aid. The resolution was passed immediately inclusion of in-kind aid other than food in WFP’s resources. after the one adopted by the United Nations General Assembly which The IGC report stressed that the world’s food problem was an approved the continuation of WFP (UN General Assembly Resolution inseparable part of the broader problems of development. It was 209514) “for as long as multilateral food aid is found feasible and reasoned that, amongst other things, economic progress would raise food desirable”. The resolution noted that “the problem of hunger will supplies through increased local production or commercial imports and continue to be one of the most serious problems facing the international increase effective demand, thereby improving nutrition. But despite community in the years to come” and that “ the experience gained by the considerable progress projected by the end of the second Development World Food Programme and the increase in its resources should enable Decade, many people in developing countries were expected to be it to enlarge its potential in this field”. The various proposals intended to unable to obtain sufficient food. At the same time, FAO and OECD make WFP a larger and more effective instrument of international co- (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) projections operation gave rise to fundamental issues that went beyond the terms of indicated that during the 1970s developed countries would produce more reference of WFP’s governing body. These considerations resurfaced cereals and dairy products than could be absorbed in commercial during preparations for the second UN Development Decade of the

13 See Appendices - Attachment IV, UN General Assembly Resolution 2096 (XX) Programme of Studies of Multilateral Food Aid, 20 December 1965. 14 See Appendices - Attachment V, UN General Assembly Resolution 2095 (XX) Continuation of the World 15 See attachment VI “UN General Assembly Resolution 2462 (XXIII) Multilateral Food Aid”, 20 December Food Programme, 20 December 1965. 1968.

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markets. Food aid could help in transferring surpluses to needy people, report recognized that food aid could also support the national subject to appropriate safeguards. development plans of developing countries. No recommendations were given concerning the total volume of food aid WFP’s collaboration with the UN and its specialized agencies “should be that might be provided during the 1970s because of difficulties in deepened and become more sustained”. Close attention should be given forecasting likely availabilities and assessing the capacity of receiving to the association of WFP’s assistance with the technical services countries to use food aid effectively. However, one specific proposal was provided by the UN and its specialized agencies; the formulation of made. It was recommended that the supplementary food should be projects within their own mandates that could benefit from WFP’s provided to 60 million of the most vulnerable people in developing assistance; provision of technical advice and support during countries with about $600 million of food aid, which represented about implementation of WFP-supported projects; and specifically, closer half the total flow of food aid in 1970. While recognizing that food aid collaboration with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). The might continue to be provided mainly on a bilateral basis, the report report also called for closer collaboration between WFP and international recommended that the UN General Assembly should draw the attention organizations outside the UN system and with bilateral food aid of member states to the advantages of channelling a greater proportion of programmes. WFP aid had not been provided in association with food food aid through multilateral channels, particularly WFP. aid from other sources during its three-year experimental period because Concerning WFP itself, the report considered that while it should of the need to evaluate its performance before a decision was taken to continue to pursue the project approach in the provision of food aid, to continue its operations. This was no longer necessary. WFP could take which it had been restricted by its institution, WFP should also part in consultative groups and aid consortia, and in jointly financed experiment with other approaches to help development. While WFP’s projects, in which its aid could be combined with bilateral assistance. experience had shown that the project approach was effective, the Collaboration with non-governmental organizations could also be number of sound projects that recipient countries could formulate and substantially increased. The proposal, that WFP should provide non-food implement, and in addition, handling their administrative and budgetary items in-kind, in addition to food commodities, proved to be a capacities, was limited. WFP and other aid programmes should help controversial issue. The non-food items that might be channelled trough developing countries reduce those constraints. However, there were a WFP were identified as fertilizers, pesticides, specific types of farm number of developmental needs that could be considered jointly in the machinery, and storage equipment and materials. It was recognized that context of a country’s developmental plan. This would facilitate WFP’s the impact of WFP-assisted projects could be considerably enhanced if support for integrated regional area development programmes. WFP food aid was accompanied by these non-food inputs. However, certain commitments could be switched from activities within a multi-project negative factors were noted. In view of the lack of interest shown by that were performing unsatisfactorily to those progressing well. The potential donors in making non food items available as aid through WFP, the danger of such aid displacing pledges of food, and the desirability of

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WFP concentrating its efforts on food aid, it was decided that it was Furthermore, “there was a general agreement that, in many situations, inadvisable to embark on changes in WFP’s operations. WFP did set up food aid was often a necessary, if not insufficient resource for achieving a small non-food items unit in 1974 to obtain such items directly related sustainable food security, and that like all aid, it mostly depended on the to WFP-assisted development projects and emergency operations. These ways in which its provided and used together with other types of aid items included trucks to transport food from ports and border stations to resource”18. project sites and distribution centres, storage and packaging materials, insecticides and fumigation liquids, and kitchen and canteen equipment. 1.5 Food for Development: Tools, equipment and materials needed to implement WFP-assisted institutionalizing project food aid development projects were also supplied.

Further consideration of these multilateral food aid studies was Although WFP had an important role in emergencies, its main focus of interrupted by a world crisis at the beginning of 1970s, leading to a new attention for most of its first 40 years of its operations was on using food agenda for action. aid in support of economic and social development projects. Distinct In the meantime, food aid remained a controversial subject. Some, like phases may be discerned during this period: the first decade to the World Hans Singer, had seen the opportunities that it could provide as well as Food Conference in 1974 during which WFP was faced with unstable the challenges it presented as an effective aid resource not only in times and fluctuating resources and searched for a distinct identity; and much of emergency but also for addressing food insecurity and assisting the of the next 30 years during which project food aid was fully developed developmental aspirations of the hungry poor. Others have criticized and institutionalized. food aid for creating disincentives for small farmers in recipient Events leading up to the world food crisis of the early 1970s countries by depressing food prices, distorting markets, discouraging demonstrated how unpredictable and fragile the world food security agricultural policy reform and fostering dependency, and the high situation was, and how quickly it could change. transfer cost associated with the type of food aid to donor countries and In September 1973, the US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, proposed types of commodities16. that a world conference should be convened under the United Nations Against this background, WFP has emerged as “not only the world’s auspices to address the crisis. The UN General Assembly agreed and an largest humanitarian agency, but one of its most respected and intergovernmental “United Nations World Food Conference” was held effective”17. at a ministerial level in Rome, Italy, in November 1974. During this event, the conference did not reach an agreement on the overarching strategy and institutional arrangements proposed for achieving world 16 CLAY E., The Development Effectiveness of Food Aid, OEDC Publishing, Paris, 2005. CLAY E., STOKE O. Food Aid Reconsidered: Assessing the Impact on Third World Countries, Frank Cass, London, 1991. 17 EVANS G., Bread and Stones. Leadership and Struggle to Reform the United Nations World Food Programme, SC: BookSurge, North Charleston, 2006. 18 D. JOHN SHAW, “World Food Security. A history since 1945”, Palgrave, New York, 2007, pp. 106ss.

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food security. However, it did adopt 23 resolutions relating to various notable characteristics stood out: WFP was the largest source of aspects of the world food problem. assistance within the United Nations system to development projects A number of the food recommendations achieved from the conference involving and benefiting poor women in developing countries; WFP was were not implemented. Nevertheless, the conference was to provide a the largest provider of grant assistance for environmental protection and major watershed in WFP’s development. The immediate effect was a improvement activities in developing countries; WFP was the largest substantial increase in WFP’s resources as several donors increased their purchaser of food and services in developing countries among United contributions, making it at one time the largest source of grant aid in the Nations agencies, and a major supporter of South-South trade. United Nations system. Consequently, its responsibilities were increased During the first 30 years of WFP operations, changes were manifested in considerably. several ways. There was a gradual shift in focus to Sub-Saharan Africa, By the end of the first decade of WFP operations in 1972, US$1.2 billion which became the main recipient of WFP development assistance, of assistance had been committed to 540 development projects in 94 followed by South and East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and developing countries, and annual food aid disbursements had reached Europe, Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States. US$170 million. An estimated 24 million people had benefited directly A broad category of agricultural and rural development projects received from WFP assistance. about two-thirds of WFP development aid commitments, while projects The next ten years were to witness a steady growth, refinement and for human resource development received one-third. institutionalization of WFP project food aid for development, so that by There was a deliberate attempt to allocate development commitments to 1982 WFP had committed about US$5.3 billion of assistance to over the neediest people in the poorest countries. Priority was therefore given 1,000 development projects in 114 developing countries, directly to countries classified as least-developed, and to low income, food- benefiting 94 million people. WFP became one of the major funding deficit countries, to which an increasing proportion of WFP development programmes of the United Nations system and a principle source of grant aid was allotted. aid to the poorest sections of the populations of developing countries. A market difference developed among the recipient regions in the way in By the end of the first 30 years of operation in 1992, WFP had invested which WFP food aid was used. Whilst the largest share of WFP over US$13 billion in 1,600 development projects to combat hunger and assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, the Middle East and the promote economic and social development throughout the developing Commonwealth of Independent States went to emergency operations, the world. In 1992 alone, WFP commitments to on-going development largest share in the Asia and Pacific region went directly to productive projects totalled US$3 billion and provided assistance to 52 million projects, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, to human resource people. WFP was the largest source of grant development assistance to development19. the poor in developing countries, as well as the principal channel for

19 SHAW D. JOHN, The UN World Food Programme and the development of food aid, Palagrave, New emergency aid in the United Nations system. In the process, three York, 2001, pp. 82ss.

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1.6 WFP Emergency and Relief Operations needs, the amounts to be reserved from WFP’s resources would be determined by WFP’s governing body “In accordance with changing circumstances”20. In case of a special need, WFP’s Executive Director There was one issue that caused much debate from the inception of WFP could request additional amounts of emergency food aid to be drawn operations. While the Programme could help in times of emergency as from the Programme’s regular resources. Any unused balance of well as assist economic and social developmental projects, what should emergency food aid allocations were returned to WFP’s general be the “balance”? The study by the expert group that led to the creation resources at the end of each year. WFP was also permitted in of WFP focused on developmental uses of food aid, as did the pioneering emergencies to arrange for the purchase and transportation of food and FAO food aid study in India before it. However, McGovern’s proposal related non-food items, and for the monitoring of their distribution, on for a multilateral three-year experimental food aid programme stated that behalf of bilateral food aid programmes and other UN agencies, so long “the primary aim of the program in its initial stages should be to meet as reimbursement was received for the service provided. emergency needs”. The resolutions formally creating WFP in Providing emergency relief is a complex issue, both conceptually and November/December 1961 called on WFP to pay attention to practically. Initially, emergency situations qualifying for WFP assistance “establishing adequate and orderly procedures on a world basis for were defined as arising out of “critical food shortages or famine meeting emergency food needs and emergencies inherent in chronic resulting from sudden or unexpected occurrences”.21 However, this malnutrition”. This was listed as the first objective of WFP assistance in definition was considered to be too general and was amended in 1970 to: the general regulations of the newly created organization in 1963. And “urgent situations in which there is a clear evidence that an event has WFP’s governing body was to give more attention to emergency occurred which caused human suffering or loss of livestock and which operations than to any other single subject. the government concerned has not the means to remedy; and it is a Despite the initial prominence given to responding to emergency demonstrably abnormal event which produces dislocation in the life of a situations, only a modest proportion of WFP resources were allocated for community on an exceptional scale.22 providing that purpose. During the first year of WFP operations, up to 25 Three types of emergencies were identified: sudden, natural calamities, percent of the commodities pledged to the programme were earmarked such as earthquake, floods, and hurricanes; slower-maturing emergencies for use in emergencies, including the establishment of national food arising from food shortages caused by drought, crop failures, pests and reserves. At the beginning of each year, US$7 million of WFP’s resources were reserved for emergency food needs. Should that amount prove inadequate, a further US$3 million in any one year could be drawn 20 Report on the Fifth Session of United Nations/FAO Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes, from WFP’s resources for emergencies. This rigid formula was further WFP/CFA: 7/21. 21 Synopsis of World Food Programmes Policies. FP1/1 amended in 1978 when it was decided that for meeting emergency food 22 WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, Food Aid and related Issues during the Second Development Decade, Report of the Intergovernmental Committee of the World Food Programme in response to resolution 2462(XXIII) of United Nations General Assembly, WFP/IGC: 17/5 Rev.1.

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diseases: and man-made emergencies resulting in refugees and displaced At the end of the second decade of WFP operations, over half of WFP persons. emergency commitments went to man-made disasters, 41 per cent to Every disaster has its own characteristics. Strict adherence to a definite emergencies caused by drought, and only 6 per cent to sudden natural set of criteria for WFP emergency assistance was therefore, neither disasters. possible nor desirable. By the end of the third decade of WFP operations, the bulk of WFP Speed of action is crucial in emergency operations. Governments in emergency assistance was directed to saving the lives of refugees and disaster-afflicted countries, governments in donor countries, aid agencies displaced persons caught up in wars, civil strife and ethnic and religious and programmes, and NGOs (national and international) all have a part conflict. to play in ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of emergency WFP commitments for protracted refugees and displaced person projects assistance. Deficiencies on the part of any one of these can adversely (PRROs) were made in 1989, when a special resource facility for affect the work of the others, and hence the entire emergency operation. assisting PRROs, lasting more than one year, was established. This Emergency operations have grown from a small, but important, facility has considerably added to WFP’s overall emergency relief component of WFP activities to become a major part of its work. assistance. It reached over US$557 million in 1991 as man-made WFP commitments of emergency assistance (at current prices) increased disasters not only increased in number and scale, but also in duration. It from an annual average of US$21 million up to 1975 to almost $900 has subsequently declined as some of the war situations have been million in 1992. If resources committed for protracted refugee and resolved and victims have returned to their homes, increasing the displaced person operations, which began in 1989, are included, total demand for food aid for reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes. emergency relief assistance committed by WFP in 1992 reached $1.4 Over a period of seven years (1989-95), more than four million tons billion. While WFP developmental assistance tripled in the 1970s, its were shipped by WFP to PRROs in 31 countries. Over half to PRROs in emergency aid increased ten-fold. This imbalance continued over the Sub-Saharan Africa, 28 percent to those in South and East Asia, 12 next two decades. percent to those in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe and Central Major changes have taken place with the proportions of WFP assistance Asia, and less than one percent to those in Latin America. going to the three types of emergencies mentioned over the past 40 years of operations.

At the end of the first decade of WFP operations, almost half of WFP’s emergency assistance went to the victims of drought and crop failures, about one third to those afflicted by sudden natural disasters, and less than a fifth to refugees and displaced persons, and the victims of man- made disasters.

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Chapter II G.N. Vogel; July 1977-Sept 1977:Mr. Thomas C.M. Robinson; May 1976-June 1977: Mr. Thomas C.M. Robinson; July 1968-May 1976: Mr.

Fighting Hunger Worldwide Francisco Aquino; Jan 1968-Aug 1968: Mr. Sushil K. Dev; May 1962 Dec 1967:Mr. A.H. Boerma. 23

2.1 Current and previous WFP Executive Directors. 2.2 UN World Food Programme’s Vision and Mission

Statement. United Nations system against hunger. Since it was founded in 1963, WFP has fed more than 1.4 billion of the world’s poorest people, and invested more than US$30 billion in Today, WFP‘s greatest asset is its staff, a strong and dedicated workforce development and emergency relief. WFP is governed by an Executive of more than 10,000 women and men, 90 percent of whom are deployed Board which consists of representatives from 36 member states. Josette in the field, often under difficult conditions where security threats and Sheeran is the current Executive Director, appointed jointly by the UN risks to personal safety are considerable. Secretary General and the Director – General of the FAO for a five year WFP’s greatest strength is its global deep field presence combined with term. She heads the Secretariat of WFP. WFP's Executive Director is its hunger expertise, which makes it unique within the international responsible for the administration of WFP as well as the implementation system24. of its programmes, projects and other activities. Josette Sheeran became WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and the eleventh Executive Director of the United Nations World Food child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy Programme in April 2007. Before joining WFP, Ms. Sheeran served as life. WFP works towards this vision with its sister UN agencies in Rome the Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs at – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International the United States Department of State. There she was responsible for Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – as well as other economic issues including development, trade, agriculture, finance, government, UN and NGO partners. energy, telecommunications and transportation, with much of her focus Food security and agricultural development are major challenges facing on economic diplomacy to help developing nations advance towards the world today. economic self-sufficiency and prosperity. The Rome-based agencies of the United Nations work together to meet WFP has had 11 Executive Directors since its launch in 1961. The 10 them. The agencies have specific and complementary roles. that preceded Josette Sheeran were: April 2002-April 2007: Mr. James T. Founded in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the Morris; April 1992-April 2002: Ms. Catherine Bertini; April 1982-April world’s agricultural knowledge agency, providing policy and technical 1992: Mr. James Ingram; Feb 1982-April 1982: Mr. Juan F. Yriart; May

1981-Feb 1982: Mr.B. De Azevedo Brito; Oct 1977-April 1981: Mr. 23 See Dramatis Personae 24 WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, WFP Strategic Plan 2008-2011, 2008, pg. 4.

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assistance to developing countries to promote food security, nutrition and humanitarian agencies to protect rural livelihoods and help people sustainable agricultural production, particularly in rural areas. FAO also rebuild their lives25. acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate The World Food Programme, as we have seen, is the food aid arm of the agreements and debate policy. FAO helps developing countries and United Nations system. Today, WFP’s key mission is to deliver food into countries in transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and the hands of the hungry poor. The agency steps in during emergencies fisheries practices and ensure good nutrition for all. and uses food to aid recovery after emergencies. WFP’s long term FAO's activities comprise of four main areas. approach to hunger helps the transition from recovery to development. Placing information within reach: FAO serves as a knowledge network. Food aid is one of the many instruments that can help to promote food FAO utilises the expertise of its staff - agronomists, foresters, fisheries security, which is defined as access of all people at all times to the food and livestock specialists, nutritionists, social scientists, economists, needed for an active and healthy life26. statisticians and other professionals - to collect, analyse and disseminate The policies governing the use of World Food Programme food aid must data that aid development. be oriented towards the objective of eradicating hunger and poverty. The Sharing policy expertise: FAO lends its years of experience to member ultimate objective of food aid should be the elimination of the need for countries in devising agricultural policy, supporting planning, drafting food aid. effective legislation and creating national strategies to achieve rural Consistent with its mandate, which also reflects the principle of development and hunger alleviation goals. universality, WFP will continue to: use food aid to support economic and Providing a meeting place for nations: On any given day, dozens of social development; meet refugee and other emergency food needs, and policy-makers and experts from around the globe convene at FAO associated logistics support; promote world food security in accordance headquarters or in its field offices to forge agreements on major food and with the recommendation of the United Nations and FAO. agriculture issues. As a neutral forum, FAO provides the setting where WFP’s multilateral character is one of its greatest strengths. WFP will rich and poor nations can come together to build common exploit its capability to operate virtually everywhere in the developing understanding. world, without regard to the political orientation of governments, and to Bringing knowledge to the field: FAO’s breadth of knowledge is put to provide a neutral conduit for assistance in situations where many donor the test in thousands of field projects throughout the world. FAO countries could not directly provide assistance. WFP will provide mobilizes and manages millions of dollars provided by industrialized services: advice, good offices, logistic support and information; and countries, development banks and other sources to make sure the projects achieve their goals. FAO provides the technical know-how and in a few cases is a limited source of funds. In crisis situations, FAO

25 UNITED NATIONS, “Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)”, United Nation Handbook, 2007/2008. works side-by-side with the World Food Programme and other 26 FAO/WHO, “International Conference on Nutrition”, 1992.

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support to countries in establishing and managing their own food halve the proportion of hungry and extremely poor people by 2015. assistance programmes27. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD works with governments to The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was develop and finance programmes and projects that enable rural poor established as an international financial institution in 1977, as one of the people to overcome poverty themselves. Since starting operations in major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. The Conference 1978, IFAD has invested US$11.3 billion in 829 projects and resolved that an International Fund for Agricultural Development should programmes that have reached some 350 million poor rural people. be established to finance agricultural development projects primarily for Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, food production in the developing countries. IFAD with its knowledge of including project participants, contributed US$9.8 billion, and rural poverty and exclusive focus on poor rural people, designs and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided approximately another implements programmes to help those people access the assets, services US$8.1 billion in co-financing. This represents a total investment of and opportunities they need to overcome poverty. about US$18 billion. IFAD tackles poverty not only as a lender, but also IFAD's goal is to empower poor rural women and men in developing as an advocate for rural poor people. Its multilateral base provides a countries to achieve higher incomes and improved food security. natural global platform to discuss important policy issues that influence IFAD will ensure that poor rural people have better access to, and the the lives of rural poor people, as well as to draw attention to the skills and organization they need to take advantage of: Natural resources, centrality of rural development to meeting the Millennium Development especially secure access to land and water, and improved natural Goals28. resource management and conservation practices; Improved agricultural No single agency has either the resource or the capacity to deal with all technologies and effective production services; A broad range of the problems of hunger and underdevelopment. Hence, the importance financial services; Transparent and competitive markets for agricultural WFP attaches to collaboration with other agencies, particularly with its inputs and produce; Opportunities for rural off-farm employment and parent bodies, the United Nations and FAO. WFP will continue to work enterprise development; Local and national policy and programming closely with the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, processes. All of IFAD's decisions - on regional, country and thematic UNHCR, other relevant agencies and non-governmental organizations strategies, poverty reduction strategies, policy dialogue, and (NGOs) in the response to emergencies and humanitarian crises. As development partners - are made with these principles and objectives in previously mentioned, WFP, collaborates with FAO and IFAD, mind. As reflected in the strategic framework, IFAD is committed to especially in using food aid for achieving household food security. WFP achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the target to will continue to forge effective partnerships of action with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, regional bodies and 27 In December 1994, WFP’s governing body adopted the WFP Mission Statement, the first for an United Nations organization. The Mission Statement was based on a fundamental review of WFP policies, objectives and strategies that involved member states of WFP, non governmental organizations, United Nations and other agencies, academics and staff members. The WFP Mission Statement is to be considered as a living 28 DELLA FINA V., “Fondo Internazionale di sviluppo agricolo (IFAD)”, Enciclopedia del diritto, Milano, document that will be reviewed periodically. WFP, Mission Statement, January 2010. 1998, II aggiornato.

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institutions, bilateral donors and NGOs in support of economic and With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve them, UN social development and against hunger. Secretary – General Ban Ki Moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York in September 2010 to boost progress towards the 2.3 Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs) MDGs. “We have made important progress in these efforts, and have many successes on which to build. But we have been moving too slowly to meet In 2000, 189 countries endorsed eight Millennium Development Goals our goals. And today we face a global economic crisis whose full (MDGs); the first on the list was to halve the proportion of the world’s repercussions have yet to be felt. poor and hungry by 2015. The global community cannot turn its back on the poor and the The MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the vulnerable. We must strengthen global cooperation and solidarity, and commitments and targets established at the world summits in the 1990s. redouble our efforts to reach the MDGs and advance the broader Responding to the world’s development challenges and to the calls of development agenda.”30 civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal The World Food Programme’s work responds directly to all MDGs and health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and WFP’s objectives and projects contribute to achieving them31. WFP's other diseases. role in achieving the first MDG is clear. Whether through its emergency Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can be operations or its relief or development projects, WFP's focus is on achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Poor countries making sure food reaches hungry people. WFP's mission statement have pledged to govern better and invest in their people through health emphasises that WFP's activities aim to save lives, improve nutrition and care and education. Rich countries have pledged to support them, quality of life among vulnerable people and help promote self-reliance. through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade. However, WFP's work also contributes toward the second MDG - The Eight Millennium Development Goals are: Eradicate Extreme universal primary education. WFP school meals projects encourage Poverty and Hunger (MDG1); Achieve Universal Primary Education parents to keep their children in school. (MDG2); Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women (MDG3); Reduce Child Mortality (MDG4); Improve Maternal Health (MDG5); WFP's food assistance can also play an important role in meeting another Combat HIV and AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases (MDG6); Ensure five of the eight MDGs: empowering women, reducing child and Environmental Sustainability (MDG7); Develop a Global Partnership for maternal mortality, improving maternal health, combating AIDS and ensuring environmental sustainability. Development (MDG8) 29.

30 BAN KI-MOON, Secretary – General, United Nations , The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009, 29 BAN KI-MOON, Secretary – General, United Nation , The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, July 2009, pg. 3. United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs, July 2009, pp. 6 - 19. 31 WFP FACT AND FIGURE (attachment VII)

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2.4 World Hunger

According to the latest Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, there are more than 1 billion hungry people in the world and 915 million of them are in developing countries32. There are over 1 billion hungry people in the world: more than the combined populations of the United States, Canada and the European Union. They are of all ages, from babies whose mothers cannot produce enough milk to the elderly with no relatives to care for them. They are the unemployed inhabitants of urban slums, the landless farmers tilling other people's fields, the orphans of AIDS and the sick, who need special or increased food intake to survive. The percentage of hungry people is highest in east, central and southern Africa. Around three-quarters of undernourished people live in low-income rural areas of developing countries, principally in higher-risk farming areas. However, the share of the hungry in urban areas is rising. Of the total number of over 1 billion chronically hungry people, over half are in Asia and the Pacific and about a quarter are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Picture: WFP Hunger map2011 Source: www.wfp.org They are distributed like this: 642 million in Asia and the Pacific; 265 million in Sub-Saharan Africa; 53 million in Latin America and the Caribbean; 42 million in the Near East and North Africa.

32 FAO, news release, 19 June 2009.

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That means one in nearly six people do not get enough food to be healthy 2.5 WFP Strategic Plan ( 2008 – 2011) and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide - greater than AIDS, malaria and The Strategic Plan (2008-2011) lays out a framework for potential action tuberculosis combined. Among the key causes of hunger are, natural for WFP. The Strategic Objectives reflect the changing nature of food disasters, conflict, poverty, poor agricultural infrastructure and over- aid and hunger and WFP’s history, experience and comparative exploitation of the environment. Recently, financial and economic crises advantages. The Strategic Plan marks a historical shift from WFP as a have pushed more people into hunger. As well as the obvious sort of food aid agency to WFP as a food assistance agency. Its overarching hunger resulting from an empty stomach, there is also the hidden hunger goal is to reduce dependency and to support governmental and global of micronutrient deficiencies which make people susceptible to efforts to ensure long term solutions to the hunger challenge. infectious diseases, impair physical and mental development, reduce WFP will focus on five Strategic Objectives: Save lives and protect their labour productivity and increase the risk of premature death. livelihoods in emergencies36; Prevent acute hunger and invest in disaster Hunger does not only weigh on the individual. It also imposes a crushing preparedness and mitigation measures37; Restore and rebuild lives and economic burden on the developing world. The sensation of hunger, a livelihoods in post conflict, post disaster or transition situations38; lack of food in your stomach, is universal. But there are different manifestations of hunger which are each measured in different ways: 36 Emergencies are defined as “Urgent situations in which there is a clear evidence that an event or a series of events has occurred which causes human suffering or imminently threatens human lives or livelihoods and Under-nourishment33; Malnutrition34; Wasting35. which the government concerned has not the means to remedy; and it is a demonstrably abnormal event or series of events which produces dislocation in the life of a community on an exceptional scale”. When shocks or crises occur, the international community expects WFP to be ready to respond if national WFP, as the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger authorities need assistance. In its intervention, WFP will pay particular attention to needs assessment, targeting, food and nutritional needs of vulnerable groups and securing and maintaining humanitarian access. worldwide, will continue to adapt and transform the way it works to WFP is committed to fulfilling its various United Nations cluster leadership responsibilities in order to help ensure a coordinated and optimal system response to whatever needs may arise in emergencies. meet the immediate needs of the hungry. The Strategic Objective One mentions three goals: To save lives in emergencies and reduce acute malnutrition caused by shocks to below emergency levels; To protect livelihoods and enhance self-reliance in emergencies and early recovery; To reach refugees, IDPs and other vulnerable groups and communities whose food and nutrition security has been adversely affected by shocks. WFP, WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. 33 Under-nourishment is used to describe the status of people whose food intake does not include enough 37 In many countries, the end of a disaster often becomes the precursor of the next one, either because the first calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. At present, there are over 1 billion shock has undermined the resilience capacities of countries, or because there is an underlying low level of undernourished people worldwide, most of them in developing countries disaster preparedness. There may be other destabilizing pressures – such as financial or economic volatility 34 Means 'badly nourished', but is more than a measure of what we eat or fail to eat. Malnutrition is and fragility, soaring food prices or reduction in contingency food stocks and reserves – that can impact characterised by inadequate intake of protein, energy and micronutrients and by frequent infections and resilience at its core. These factors may be exacerbated by climate change. diseases. Starved of the right nutrition, people will die from common infections like measles or diarrhoea. WFP already uses a wide range of tools to understand the nature and dimension of such pressures and Malnutrition is measured not by how much food is eaten but by physical measurements of the body - weight disasters. In order to prevent outbreaks of acute hunger caused by economic shocks and disasters, WFP will or height - and age. support the establishment of early warning systems and vulnerability analysis capacities. Thus, WFP can help Malnutrition covers a range of problems, such as being dangerously thin, being too short for one's age, being communities, governments and the international community get ahead of the hunger curve – and therefore deficient in vitamins and minerals (such as lacking iron which makes you anaemic), or even being too fat fight hunger more effectively and efficiently – by focusing particular attention on preparedness and disaster (obese). It is measured using the following indicators: Wasting is an indicator of acute malnutrition that risk reduction and mitigation. reflects a recent and severe process that has led to substantial weight loss. This is usually the result of The Strategic Objective Two mentions two goals: To support and strengthen capacities of governments to starvation and/or disease. Stunting is an indicator of chronic malnutrition that reflects the long-term prepare for, assess and respond to acute hunger arising from disaster; To support and strengthen resiliency of nutritional situation of a population. It is calculated by comparing the height-for-age of a child with a communities to shocks through safety nets or assess creation, including adaptation to climate change. WFP, reference population of well nourished and healthy children. Underweight is measured by comparing the WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. weight-for-age of a child with a reference population of well-nourished and healthy children. An estimated 38This Strategic Objective concerns WFP’s extended recovery work. Recovery situation in the transition 146 million children in developing countries are underweight. between emergencies and development should represent a full – fledged context of intervention that involves 35 Wasting is an indicator of acute malnutrition that reflects a recent and severe process that has led to specific needs and calls for appropriate responses. The approaches used in such situations needs to help substantial weight loss. This is usually the result of starvation and/or disease. facilitate the transition from relief and recovery to sustainable development.

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Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition39; Strengthen the capacities the hunger- related needs of their population. They also have unique of countries to reduce hunger, including through hand-over strategies depth and breadth of knowledge about their people, including their and local purchase40. needs, vulnerability, customs and preferences. Moreover, they have often Not all Strategic Objectives will apply to all situations and all countries. developed tools and policies that are country-specific and are thus, the Specific priorities will be set based on specific needs and priorities in a best institutional and operational starting points for complementary country or region and in accordance with the comparative advantage that hunger-reduction interventions. The priority of communities’ and WFP can bring in a particular time and place. governments’ external partners should be to help them pursue their Success will depend not only on WFP’s own capacity, but also on the locally or nationally established priorities. extent to which WFP manages to be a partner for others – national In emergency contexts, WFP can help governments act whether through governments, other United Nations organizations, national and direct operational involvement or response coordination. Governments international non-governmental organizations or the private sector. should take the lead in disaster preparedness and response, coordination WFP’s effort is an important building block in the fight against hunger, among actors and contingency planning. In a recovery situation, but its effectiveness will be maximized only if accompanied by other governments usually face difficult tasks with stretched capacities, and actors’ efforts or integrated into a broader alliance. WFP can help them restore and rebuild lives and livelihoods along the The main actors, and partners for WFP, on the front line of hunger are priorities they define. In longer-term development, all WFP interventions national and local governments as well as the local communities. must be coherent with and aligned to governments’ priorities and Communities and governments have a primary responsibility for meeting frameworks.

Through this Strategic Objective, WFP will offer assistance in ways that contribute to the critical efforts of Partnership with the United Nations System agencies and Bretton Woods individuals, communities and countries to recover and rebuild in the longer term aftermath of an emergency. The Strategic Objective Three mentions three goals: To support the return of refugees and IDPs through food Institutions are central to WFP’s work in all of its proposed strategic and nutrition assistance; To support the re-establishment of livelihoods, food and nutrition security of communities and families affected by shocks; To assist in establishing or rebuilding food supply or delivery objectives. Timely and effective response during a humanitarian capacities of countries and communities affected by shocks and help to avoid the resumption of conflicts. WFP, WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. 39 See Cap. 2 Par. 2.6 emergency requires close and effective partnership with not only FAO 40 When governments make the fight against hunger and undernutrition a top priority, real progress can be achieved. WFP and its partners must work with national governments to ensure that hunger and and IFAD but also with the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian undernutrition are not viewed as mere by-products of poverty, which it is assumed will disappear if and when poverty decreases. Instead, specific measures are required to integrate hunger-reduction measures into Affairs (OCHA), the International Red Cross and Red Crescent broader growth and poverty reduction strategies. Food and nutrition assistance programmes can and should be designed in a way that reaps double benefits for beneficiaries. Food and non food local purchasing activities Movement, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for are supporting the capacity of countries and communities to enhance employment opportunities and develop sustainable livelihoods. WFP is committed to utilizing its purchasing power, when and where possible, to develop suppliers’ capacities and build up with other partners complementary interventions aimed at Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reinforcing the supply side. Pilot local procurement activities can be mainstreamed into WFP’s procurement, practices and, more importantly, adopted and scaled up by national governments and other actors in and the World Health Organization (WHO). The partnership with agricultural sectors. It must be understood, however, that WFP’s top priority in procurement is to address humanitarian needs as effectively as possible. UNICEF is also critical to WFP’s work on nutrition, education, and The Strategic Objective Five mentions three goals: To use purchasing power to support the sustainable development of food security systems, and transform food and nutrition assistance into a productive HIV/AIDS. Other important WFP partnerships to break the chronic investment in local communities; To develop clear hand-over strategies to enhance nationally owned hunger solutions; To strengthen the capacity of countries to design, manage and implement tools, policies and programmes to predict and reduce hunger. WFP, WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. intergenerational cycle of hunger include the Joint United Nations

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Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNADIS) of which WFP is a co-sponsor, the The Strategic Plan reflects real-world challenges, including the recent World Bank, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural increased hunger caused by soaring food prices, restricted supplies, and Research (CGIAR), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and the difficult choices that the organization confronts from day to day. Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development The Strategic Plan, like WFP itself, is in part a reflection of international Programme (UNPD) and the United Nations Population Fund realities – including the gaps and deficiencies in the broader international (UNFPA).41 humanitarian and development architecture. Support for recovery, in NGOs are instrumental in increasing WFP’s global deep field presence. particular in critical peace building situations, is often not sustained. The Their work is essential in both short- and long-term responses to hunger. gap between crises, recovery and sustainable longer-term solutions is Nowadays, WFP works closely with about 2,800 NGOs all over the very frequently a chasm. Deploying WFP most effectively within this world. During emergency operations their value added includes broader global context is what the Strategic Plan is all about. assessment, targeting, selection of appropriate responses and distribution The global context in which WFP operates is rapidly changing. One and delivery of assistance – particularly in situations where national example of this is the rapid globalization of the hunger challenges capacity in those areas is limited. Also, NGOs and civil society can raise presented by climate change. The organization needs to respond in an awareness on, and advocate for, long term commitments by governments effective manner to emerging trends and challenges. to prioritize hunger in their strategic and policy frameworks42. Despite WFP’s progress towards halving the proportion of the hungry Partnerships with the private sector are important too. Local and global over the past decades, the absolute number of the hungry is growing and business can strengthen WFP’s response by providing critical material thus there are new challenges facing the organization. assets related to ground and air transportation, as well as, ICT at the Economic shocks such as soaring food and fuel prices are diminishing onset of an emergency, through pre-arranged partnership structures. the purchasing power of some of the most vulnerable households, Moreover, corporations can provide technical expertise and specialized exposing many millions to greater desperation and hunger. In many personnel in areas linked to WFP’s operational needs – such as nutrition, regions climate change contributes to the destruction of livelihoods, security, logistics, and financial business modelling. Lastly, private reduces agricultural yields and threatens lives, pushing even more people donors may directly support WFP operations and programmes in into desperation. developing countries, as shown by the on-going partnership with the Bill Responding to those hunger challenges requires multi-faceted food & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Alliance for Green Revolution in assistance policies that can address food availability, food access and Africa, whose goals include helping millions of smallholder farmers lift food utilization problems. themselves out of poverty.

41 UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, “Food and Nutrition Needs in Emergencies”, Geneva, 2002. 42 WFP, “WFP’s operational relationship with NGOs - Annual Report 2007”, Rome, 2008.

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2.6 Strategic Objective Four: Reduce Chronic Hunger and 9 Mother-and-child health and nutrition (MCHN) programmes46; Undernutrition 9 Programmes addressing and mitigating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other pandemics47.

9 Policy and programmatic advice48; High rates of chronic hunger and undernutrition are the cause of high 9 School Feeding Programmes; mortality and hamper the development prospects of certain countries and WFP partners with national governments, local communities and others communities. Preventing deaths related to chronic hunger and on school feeding programmes that enable millions of children each year undernutrition is one of the greatest challenges of our time. In to concentrate on their classes rather than on hunger. Educators, accordance with the request and needs of governments and communities, politicians and economists around the world, have embraced school WFP will partner with others to support or implement programmes that feeding – especially when food is produced and purchased locally – as an address chronic hunger and undernutrition. intervention that breaks the cycle of hunger and poverty. Providing WFP will particularly focus its activities on groups that are the most meals at school encourages enrolment and attendance, particularly vulnerable to the consequences of hunger – especially children and amongst girls; improves learning through better concentration, making women. other educative instruments more effective; helps promote good The Strategic Objective Four mentions three goals: To help countries nutrition; and makes it possible for poor families to send hungry children bring undernutrition below critical levels and break the intergenerational to school rather than have them look for food or work. cycle of chronic hunger43;To increase levels of education and basic School Feeding is also an ideal platform to deliver both macro and nutrition and health through food and nutrition security tools44;To meet micronutrients and develop the local production of complementary foods the food and nutrition food needs at those affected by HIV/AIDS, that are crucial for school-age children to grow to their full physical and tuberculosis and other pandemics45. The tools and approaches used by WFP are extremely important in our 46 WFP partners with governments, local communities and others to support or implement MCHN analysis: programmes that aim to improve the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age, as well as of pregnant and lactating women and prevent life-long consequences of poor nutrition at the early stages of life. A key element of this programme is supplementary feeding through local health clinics or community-based approaches. WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. 47 As part of a comprehensive package of treatment, care and support for people living with HIV and/or tuberculosis, food and nutrition programmes are being implemented in many high-prevalence countries. Such programmes: enable food-insecure people to seek treatment; help optimize the benefits derived from 43 WFP will support and implement activities that prevent the intergenerational cycle of chronic hunger from treatment; facilitate nutritional recovery; support treatment adherence, particularly during the initial perpetuating itself and bring undernutrition (including micronutrient deficiencies) below critical levels. WFP, vulnerable period and enable children to get an education that helps protect their future. WFP Strategic Plan WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. 2008 – 2011. 44 Poor level of education and health strongly affect the physical and intellectual growth of individuals, and WFP works with governments to ensure that food and nutrition support is included in national tuberculosis constrain the economic and social development of nations. WFP will continue to work with governments, programmes and within its AIDS budget plan. WFP will work with governments, civil society and others to local communities and other partners to support and sometimes implement programmes that increase levels of plan for and respond to the potential hunger-related consequences from a health crisis such as human formal and informal education as well as of basic nutrition and health, with particular attention given to influenza related to highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus. WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. women and children. WFP, WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. 48 The international community has strongly affirmed the primary responsibility of national governments in 45 The impact of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other pandemics are reversing hard-won development gains in leading the fight against hunger and meeting the MDGs. WFP has a long and a successful history of working certain countries and communities. WFP is committed to providing food and nutrition support in conjunction with governments to design and manage food and nutrition assistance programmes. In the changing with partners and as an essential element to prevention, treatment and mitigation within national HIV environment of humanitarian and development aid, this essential aspect of WFP’s work is becoming even programmes and strategies. WFP, WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011. more relevant. WFP Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011.

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intellectual potential. Through “take-home rations”, school feeding Chapter III programmes encourage families to send girls to school or to open their homes to orphans. Through its local purchase of food, school feeding can also promote sustainable development solutions by supporting the Food for Development: School Feeding Programme development of reliable markets for small farmers and local producers, as well as helping them access those markets. Furthermore, school feeding programmes represent a long term and sustainable solution to 3.1 Today’s School Feeding Policy (2008-2011) hunger since their impact on education levels, especially those of adolescent girls, will help break the intergenerational cycle of hunger “What is so clear is that we are beyond the debate about whether school and undernutrition. Within this context, school feeding programmes can feeding makes sense as a way to reach the most vulnerable. It does.”49 transform schools into “development centres” for the whole community by providing a “ready-to-use” channel through which a broader range of The World Food Programme’s vision is to reduce hunger among services can be delivered. When a crisis strikes, school feeding schoolchildren so that hunger is not an obstacle to their development. programmes can also play a particularly important role as a platform to WFP has 45 years of experience in school feeding, throughout which it reach children in need. has helped millions of children become educated, productive adults. These adults have created greater food security for their families with healthier, better educated children. The benefits of school feeding and education do translate to the next generations. School feeding is an effective safety net50. It helps to protect vulnerable children during times of crisis. It safeguards nutrition, education and gender equality and provides a range of socio-economic benefits. School feeding can also contribute to a much-needed sense of normality for children living in insecure environments. A daily school meal serves as a strong incentive to send children to school and ensure they attend

49 WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran and World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick. Foreward to: Bundy D., Burbano, C., Grosh, M., Gelli, A., Jukes, M. and Drake, L. 2009. Rethinking School Feeding: Social Safety Nets, Child Development and Education Sector. Washington DC, WFP and World Bank. 50 Safety nets are a sub-set of a broader social protection system. Safety nets mostly include non-contributory transfers in cash or in-kind, conditional or unconditional, and other interventions to improve access to food and basic essentials, such as price subsidies. Depending on programme objectives and design features, safety nets can generate a variety of outcomes, including for examples improvements in nutrition, enhancements in education, or the transfer of income to targeted households. WFP, “WFP and Food-Based SafetyNets. PolicyPaper”, Rome, 2004.

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regularly. When local production contributes to school feeding In-school feeding can be divided into two common categories: programs programmes, there are win-win spinoffs for local economies. that provide meals52, and programs that provide high-energy biscuits or School feeding is sustainable. WFP has handed over school feeding snacks53. programmes to 31 national governments, which continue to provide 9 Take-home ration54, where families are given food if children school feeding today. attend school. In 2009, WFP estimated that 66 million children were hungry at school. In some countries, in-school meals are combined with take-home rations Today, every country in the world is seeking to provide food, in some for particularly vulnerable students, including girls and children affected way and on some scale, to its schoolchildren. Few safety net by HIV, to generate greater impacts on school enrolment and retention programmes provide so many multi- sectoral benefits - education gender rates, and reduce gender on social gaps. equality, food security poverty alleviation, nutrition and health – in one The addition of micronutrients to food (fortification), the delivery of single intervention. micronutrients in pills or suspensions (supplementation55), and the WFP works with and alongside national governments, NGOs, United provision of antihelmitic treatment (deworming56) are all cost-effective Nations agencies, private partners and other stakeholders to provide ways of enhancing the nutrition and education of schoolchildren. children with school meals. As the largest implementer of school feeding These actions are viewed as complementary in the sense that food could programmes in the world, investing almost half a billion dollars per year, be provided without these interventions, and because micronutrient WFP now supports the provision of meals to an average of 22 million 52For programs that provide meals, the primary objective is to provide breakfast, mid-morning meals, lunch, or a combination to alleviate short-term hunger, increase attending span, facilitate learning, and obviate the children each year, about half of whom are girls, in 70 countries. An need for children to leave the school to find food. In-school meals also act as an incentive to increase school access. School meals can be prepared in school or in the community, or can be delivered from centralized estimated $3.2 billion of dollars is needed to reach the 66 million kitchens. They can be an important source of micronutrients if prepared using fortified commodities, or if 51 micronutrients powder is added during or after preparation. WFP School Feeding Policy, WFP/EB.2/ 2009/4- children that attend school hungry in developing countries. School A, 8 October 2009 53 This program modality functions in a similar way to school meals, alleviating short-term hunger and feeding responds directly to the Millennium Development Goals micronutrients deficiencies, and improving learning. They can be part of a meal program, particularly during a full day at school, in which case they are given early in the day to alleviate short-term hunger. They are cheaper and easier to distribute than meals. They are particularly used in emergency or crisis contexts for (MDGs) related to hunger and poverty (MDG1), education (MDG2), rapid scale-up or in situations of poor school infrastructure and storage facilities. WFP School Feeding Policy, WFP/EB.2/ 2009/4-A, 8 October 2009 gender equality (MDG3), and contributes indirectly to all other MDGs. 54 Take-home rations function in a similar manner to conditional cash transfers. They transfer food resources to families conditional upon school enrolment and regular attendance of children. Rations are given to School feeding is defined as “the provision of food to school children”. families typically once a month or once a term. They increase school participation and probably learning. WFP School Feeding Policy, WFP/EB.2/ 2009/4-A, 8 October 2009 There are as many types of programs as there are countries, but they can 55 Micronutrients fortification is a low-cost means of including in meals or fortified biscuits or snacks the essential vitamins or minerals that may otherwise be deficient in the diet. The main micronutrients that are added are iron, iodine, vitamin A, B-vitamins, and zinc. Fortification increases the intake of micronutrients, be classified into two main groups based on their modalities: thereby improving micronutrient status, preventing damage caused by micronutrient deficiencies, and increasing cognition and nutritional status. Bundy D., Burbano C., Grosh M., Gelli A., Jukes M. and Drake 9 In-school feeding, where children are fed in school; L., Rethinking School Feeding: Social Safety Nets, Child Development and Education Sector. Washington DC, WFP and World Bank, 2009, pg. 9. 56 School-based deworming is a very cost-effective way of improving education outcomes and nutrition. It involves offering deworming tablets once or twice a year to all children in schools in infection endemic areas. Reducing the prevalence and intensity of worm infections in children enhances nutritional status, learning and cognition, and reduces absenteeism. Bundy D., Burbano C., Grosh M., Gelli A., Jukes M. and Drake L, Rethinking School Feeding: Social Safety Nets, Child Development and Education Sector. Washington DC, 51 WFP School Feeding Policy, WFP/EB.2/ 2009/4-A, 8 October 2009. WFP and World Bank, 2009, pg.10.

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supplements and deworming can be delivered independently of school 9 Strong partnerships and inter-sector coordination64; feeding. There is a strong case, however, that micronutrient fortification 9 Strong community participation and ownership65 should be an integral part of school feeding, and that deworming should be conducted alongside school feeding wherever there is an epidemiologically demonstrated need. 3.3 Sustainability through capacity development

3.2 WFP’s Guiding Standards. Well-designed school feeding programmes are sustainable. Over the past 45 years, WFP has handed over school feeding programmes to 31 WFP will support governments in implementing school feeding countries, which are still operational today. Among those are two of the programmes that are designed in line with the Eight Standards Guiding largest school feeding programmes in the world: India and Brazil. More Sustainable and Affordable School Feeding Programmes57: recently, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Peru have made the transition from 9 Sustainability58; receiving funding from external sources to providing nationally funded 9 Sound Alignments with national policy frameworks59; support. The process of achieving sustainability takes time and school 9 Stable funding and budgeting60; feeding programmes go through many stages. The transition to 9 Needs-based, cost effective quality programme design61; sustainable national programmes requires school feeding to be 9 Strong institutional arrangements for implementation, monitoring mainstreamed in national strategies. As government capacity and and accountability62; ownership develop from stage 1 to stage 5, governments assume greater 66 9 Strategy for local production and sourcing63; responsibility for school feeding programmes .

57 See attachment VII “Indicators Associated with each Guiding Standards”. 58 Sustainability must be built into school feeding programmes from the outset. It is important that sustainability is embodied in a transition strategy agreed by the government, WFP and stakeholders, that includes timing, targets and benchmarks for achievement. WFP, “School Feeding – Background on new Direction”, Rome, 2010, pg.13. 59 The inclusion of school feeding in national policy frameworks increases the potential for sustainability and quality of implementation. WFP, “School Feeding – Background on new Direction”, Rome, 2010, pg.13. 64Well-designed programmes are multi-sectoral; they link school feeding, with health, nutrition and social 60 Stable funding is a prerequisite for sustainability. The inclusion of school feeding in national planning and protection programmes, and include strong operational partnerships and coordination mechanisms. WFP, budgeting processes will ensure that it receives resources from national budgets. A national budget line for “School Feeding – Background on new Direction”, Rome, 2010, pag.14. school feeding is needed for long term sustainability. WFP, “School Feeding – Background on new 65 Locally owned school feeding programmes that respond to community needs and incorporate some form of Direction”, Rome, 2010, pg.13. parental or community contributions are the strongest. WFP, “School Feeding – Background on new 61 School feeding programmes must be based on needs and designed on the basis of an accurate assessment of Direction”, Rome, 2010, pag.14. the country context. WFP, “School Feeding – Background on new Direction”, Rome, 2010, pag.14. 66 Any reading of the school feeding literature will show, as recurrent themes, the debate around the 62 A government institution or ministry should be responsible for the implementation of the school feeding sustainability of the programmes and the need for an “exit strategy” (Levinger 1986, 1996, 2005; Del Rosso programme. Adequate resources, staff capacity, management skills, knowledge and technology must be made and Marek 1996, Del Rosso 1999; Bundy and Strickland 2000; WFP 2003). We conclude that the concept of available. Robust implementation arrangements are necessary to ensure that food and resources are managed a school feeding exit strategy has tended to confound thinking about the longer-term future of school feeding transparently through adequate monitoring and reporting mechanisms. WFP, “School Feeding – Background programs. In reality, many countries do not seek to exit from providing food to their schoolchildren. On the on new Direction”, Rome, 2010, pag.14. contrary, many countries appear to seek to expand the coverage of their programs and establish them as 63Procuring food from local markets is crucial for achieving sustainability and stimulating local economies. A national programs mainstreamed into national policy. The aim is not to exit in the sense of closing down the balance of international, national and local food procurement must be considered to support local economies programs, but rather to transition from externally supported projects to national programs. D. BUNDY, C. without jeopardizing the food pipeline. WFP, “School Feeding – Background on new Direction”, Rome , BURBANO, M. GROSH, A. GELLI, M.JUKES, L.DRAKE, Rethinking school feeding. Social safety nets, 2010, pag.14. child development, and the education sector, The World Bank, Washington, 2009, pg 33.

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its school feeding programme. Building capacity and facilitating transition are important, but WFP’s implementation support is likely to continue to be required in coordination with NGO and government programmes for several years as government capacity grows. WFP will work with governments to harmonize all school feeding programmes implemented in the country. Multi-sectoral technical support and capacity development throughout the project, during phasing out and beyond, is particularly important for ensuring an adequate transfer of skills and maintaining benefits long after external assistance has ended. Training that involves community leaders and government officials, builds layers of capacity at all levels to manage school feeding programmes efficiently. WFP aims to work with governments to strengthen capacity. Local purchase for supplying commodities to school feeding programmes is an important tool to ensure sustainability and transition. Linking school feeding programmes and locally produced Table 3.1 – Stages of transitions Feed minds, change lives, school feeding: highlights and new directions. food, including local capacity to mill and fortify benefits children, small

WFP will ensure that the eight quality standards are embedded into its farmers and local economies. WFP aim to create synergies between programmes. WFP will ensure that all programmes include a transition school feeding programmes and other social and agricultural strategy that will clearly specify how WFP and the government will programmes to meet the educational needs of children while supporting work towards putting in place the elements for a sustainable school agricultural and economic development. feeding programme. The strategy will be based on a comprehensive As WFP strengthens its support to national school feeding programmes, assessment and will consider countries’ financial and technical resource shifts from food aid to food assistance and increases its school feeding capacities and the potential for these resource capacities to increase. The toolkit, there will be increased scope to support local procurement and to strategy will include clear and realistic objectives, targets, milestones use cash resources to support governments in assessing the potential of and timelines with actions and responsibilities for an eventual different school-feeding models. government take-over. Different models - centralized, decentralized, or school based - need to Where a government has requested WFP support, WFP will continue be considered and adapted to each context: school feeding activities as resources permit until the government has the financial and technical capacity to successfully manage and implement

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9 Centralized: food is imported or procured centrally for Chapter IV distribution to the schools. Traditional school feeding

programmes use this model; Emergency Operations (EMOPs) and Protracted 9 Decentralized: Cash is transferred by the government to local Relief and Recovery Operations (PRROs): policies authorities who contract suppliers to provide food for school meals; and principles 9 School-based: Schools receive cash or vouchers from the government or others to purchase food from markets, farmers or 4.1 Emergency Operations cooperatives;

9 Community- based: Communities that can afford to provide food For the purpose of WFP, Emergencies are defined as: “Urgent situations to the schools, send their children to school with a packed lunch in which there is a clear evidence that an event or series of events has or pay schools to provide meals; occurred which causes human suffering or imminently threatens human 9 Combination: A combination of models caters for different lives or livelihoods and which the government concerned has not the contexts. means to remedy; and it is a demonstrably abnormal event or series of WFP will support national governments to study the appropriateness and events which produces dislocation in the life of a community on an effectiveness of the possible implementation models67. exceptional scale”68.

The event or series of events may comprise of one or a combination of the following: Sudden calamities such as earthquakes, floods, locust infestations and similar unforeseen disasters; Man-made emergencies resulting in an influx of refugees or the internal displacement of populations or in the suffering of otherwise affected populations; Food

scarcity conditions owing to slow-onset events such as drought, crop failures, pests, and diseases that result in an erosion of communities and vulnerable population’s capacity to meet their food needs; Severe food access or availability conditions resulting from sudden economic shocks,

market failure, or economic collapse and that result in an erosion of communities and vulnerable populations’ capacity to meet their food

67 WFP, “WFP School Feeding Policy”, October 2009, pg.17ss. 68 WFP, “Policies: EMPOs and PRROs policies and principles”, Rome, 2010.

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needs; A complex emergency for which the Government of the affected In the event of an emergency, WFP may provide advice and assistance to country or the Secretary-General of the United Nations has requested the the government, other concerned agencies and local authorities in: support of WFP. assessing requirements for emergency food aid, planning and managing The policies, objectives, programme and funding mechanisms for WFP food aid interventions and coordinating deliveries as all international assistance are the same for all types of emergencies. Each situation is food aid. WFP may provide target food aid, when appropriate, to meet assessed individually and the response geared to the particular situation. assessed emergency food needs and support recovery, together with However, WFP distinguished four main types of emergencies: Sudden associated logistics and other (non-food) support, when needed, to help disasters – natural or technological disasters which damage crops and ensure the delivery and distribution of that food in its use by the food stocks, disrupt food supply and marketing system, and/or disrupt beneficiaries. economic activities and livelihoods; Slow-onset crisis - when drought, In a major or complex emergency, WFP assures: the assessment and crop failure or a severe economic crisis erodes livelihoods and monitoring of food aid needs, coordinates the delivery of international undermines food supply system and hence the abilities of vulnerable food aid, provides logistic expertise and organizes the delivery of WFP- households to meet their food needs and communities to support them; provided commodities and, when requested, common logistic services Complex emergencies - when conflict and widespread social economic for the wider international humanitarian community, arranges disruption result in severe humanitarian crisis and food insecurity; distributions of WFP-provided commodities to beneficiaries and the Refugee influxes - when events in a neighbouring country cause people implementation of food for work and other projects, and where to cross the border in search of security, food and other survival needs, appropriate, with selected partners, monitoring the handling, distribution imposing extraordinary demands on the food supply system, natural and and use of WFP food. other resources of the host country. In all cases, WFP has the responsibility to see that the aid provided, is Sudden disasters, slow-onset crisis and especially complex emergencies received, handled and utilized as efficiently and effectively as possible in can all result in population displacement, in groups such as, internally the context of specific agreements signed with the government and any displaced persons (IDPs) whose situation are usually more difficult and other involved organizations. WFP also has the responsibility to see that the needs more acute than those of resident, non – displaced populations. the defined objectives are achieved, to every extent possible, and that the All these situations can give rise to requirements for relief and/or food does reach the intended beneficiaries. recovery assistance that may be country wider or localized in particular WFP has a humanitarian duty to use its influence to try and ensure that areas. provision is made for other basic needs and essential services required by Assistance may be needed for a few months (following many sudden the affected population, particularly water supplies, sanitation health disasters), about a year (in many situation of crop failure) or several years (in many complex and refugee emergencies).

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care, basic shelter and security. These are also necessary to ensure the 9 Responsibility in connection with WFP food aid effectiveness of WFP food aid69. With respect to food aid commodities provided by WFP, the The general responsibilities of the Government of an emergency-affected Government, or agencies designated by it are responsible for country in relation to the provision of food and related areas includes: implementation71. Government responsibility for emergency response, responsibility in 9 Action to be taken by the Government connection with WFP food aid, and Government action. In a complex Governments are expected to mobilize and use food stocks available in emergency when there are areas not controlled by the government or the country to initiate food relief operations, where such are required. there is no effective government, WFP may have to assume many of National security or reserve stocks should be used, where appropriate. these responsibilities in relation to areas not under government control, Arrangements should be made to borrow commodities from other in agreement with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. projects and organizations, where necessary to ensure timely distribution, 9 Government responsibility for emergency response or to arrange commodity exchanges between different bodies where this The national government has a primary responsibility to provide relief can reduce the total food movement required and therefore, economize and other assistance to the affected population and, as necessary, to on transport costs. request, co-ordinate and make arrangements for the utilization of 70 international assistance . 4.2 Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations While WFP, bilateral and other donors are normally ready and able to assist in major emergencies, this should not deter the efforts of On the other hand, Relief is the alleviation or removal of distress – developing countries to achieve self-reliance. It is the countries financial or practical assistance given to those in difficulty.72 themselves that must make major efforts to solve their own food For WFP, in the context of emergencies affecting food security, “Relief problems, establish their own food security system, strengthen their is assistance provided to enable people affected by a crisis to meet their internal marketing and distribution arrangements and establish food nutritional and related needs (saving lives) with dignity and without reserve stocks within their capacity to do so. resorting to activities that undermine their future food security

(protecting livelihood).”73

71 This includes: receiving the supplies, including assuring the prompt discharge from vessels/railway 69 WFP, “Targeting in Emergencies”, Rome, 2009. wagons/trucks and clearance through customs; arranging adequate storage, transport, and distribution within 70 Specifically, the government has the responsibility to: initiate a response by mobilizing available domestic the country, including any required reconditioning, packaging, preserving and maintaining of condition from and other in-country resources; issue an appeal/request if international assistance is required; ensure that the point of transfer of title and maintaining appropriate records and accounts, including documenting any emergency food aid, when received, is in fact made available to the affected persons promptly; coordinate losses and arranging the appropriate disposal of any spoilt commodities, and providing reports to WFP. WFP, international relief and ensure its integration in the national relief and recovery strategy and provide reports “Policies: EMPOs and PRROs policies and principles”, Rome, 2010 and accounts on the use made of commodities provided by WFP. WFP, “Policies: EMPOs and PRROs 72 Concise Oxford English Dictionary. policies and principles”, Rome, 2010 73 WFP, “Policies: EMOPs and PRROs policies and principles”, Rome, 2010.

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Food (or cash) relief may be needed when a crisis has temporarily and to protect and restore livelihoods and help people recover to at least deprived people of their means of livelihood and access to food, and their former level of food security. until they are again able to acquire sufficient appropriate food for While saving lives by combating acute hunger and malnutrition may be themselves. The need may be for a short period in many sudden, acute an over-riding priority in an acute, life-threatening crisis, WFP seeks to emergencies, but for an extended (“protracted”) period for refugees and contribute to recovery and building the self-reliance of poor people and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have little access to land or communities from the earliest possible moment, by helping to restore employment and in complex emergencies when there is a continuous livelihoods. disruption of agricultural and other economic activities. Recovery implies “a return to a normal condition” and “something gained or restored in recovering”. For WFP, in the context of emergencies affecting food security, “Recovery is a process that occurs at a various level (individual, household, community, country) following a shock (human-made or natural disaster) when, on the basis of existing capacities and, if necessary, with externally provided assistance, there is a return to the level of food security that existed prior to the shock

(livelihoods are restored)”.74

Recovery aims to achieve outcomes similar to those sought in development with a focus on long term and sustainable results in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Recovery starts as soon as people have assured their immediate survival and are able to begin thinking about rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. WFP seeks to assure the prompt delivery and distribution of humanitarian relief where necessary, to save lives. At the same time, WFP aims to use emergency assistance in a way that serves both relief and development purposes.

WFP has two goals in emergencies (and for EMOPs and PRROs): to save lives and protect nutritional status threatened due to food insecurity

74 WFP, “Policies: EMOPs and PRROs policies and principles”, Rome, 2010.

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The already fragile situation of vulnerability to food and nutritional Chapter V insecurity among a large part of the poor urban and rural population has been exacerbated over the last two years by the global phenomenon of Case Study: food prices increases, which severely impacted poor Salvadoran households’ purchasing power and access to appropriate food and The Transition Process of School Feeding nutrition. As a result, rural families started engaging in potentially in El Salvador harmful coping strategies. Moreover, official statistics indicate that during the period 2006-2007, poverty has deepened and become more widespread, rising from 30.7 to 34.6 % of the total population. 5.1 Overview In this context, WFP in El Salvador played a critical role by:

9 Providing analytical tools and inputs, for instance by launching El Salvador, with its 5.7 million inhabitants (in addition to the 2 million and coordinating a regional study and by hosting a regional forum plus residing abroad), is a middle income country with profound on Markets, Prices and Food and Nutritional Security in Central inequalities in the distribution of wealth and persisting profound levels of America. These initiatives provided fresh insights on the poverty. The food and nutritional security situation is of concern with an dynamics of the problem, and allowed in-depth information estimated 16.3 percent of rural families not having sufficient earnings to sharing for decision makers; cover the costs of the basic food basket. Under-nutrition figures are also 9 Complementing and accompanying the efforts of the Government worrisome: chronic under-nutrition among children under 5 years of age of El Salvador in strengthening social protection initiatives and is 18.9% nationally, reaching 25.6% in rural areas and nearly 50% in the programmes, as well as food production and income generation most vulnerable and marginal locations. Respiratory infections and interventions. diarrhoea continue to be the main causes of morbidity among children.

Over the past 10 years, the country has been harshly hit by natural WFP is working to connect farmers in El Salvador to markets through disasters, the most significant of which have been Hurricane Mitch the Purchase for Progress initiative. (1998), two earthquakes mostly affecting the Western region (2001), as In El Salvador WFP works with a wide range of partners including well as Tropical Storm Stan (2005). In addition to their direct impact on Government, regional and international institutions, NGOs, the UN the life and livelihoods of thousands, this chain of disasters perpetrates system and the private sector, and at different levels, from policy the cycle of poverty and under-nourishment among the most vulnerable development to operational implementation in the field. The key areas of communities. It is anticipated that the country’s vulnerability to disasters intervention can be summarized as follows: will further deteriorate due to the effects of climate change.

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9 School Meals: This is one of WFP’s flagship programmes in the emergencies in Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Belize and others); b) country, which was successfully institutionalized under the full leading the development of innovative web based Early-Warning responsibility of the Ministry of Education at the end of 2007. Systems (SATCA web, or Sistema de Alerta Temprana para Most importantly, the very successful hand over to the Centro America), which has improved the system wide capacity Government resulted in a further strengthening of the partnership to anticipate potential natural disasters; c) strengthening national between the two institutions, with the signing of a new and regional Food Security Monitoring and Nutritional agreement, whereby WFP is assisting national institutions in the Surveillance Systems to help take informed decisions and procurement, logistics and capacity development of the National anticipate a nutritional crisis; d) by working on disaster School Feeding Programme, now reaching over 875,000 school preparedness, mitigation and response competences and children in about 4150 schools; capacities always in support to national and regional institutions. 9 Mother and Child Health and Nutrition: interventions targeting 9 Capacity development and Public Policies: WFP El Salvador is a roughly 55,000 vulnerable children under five, lactating mothers strong advocate of capacity development activities, which cut and pregnant women, in collaboration with and support to the across the intervention areas of the Country Office; and it works Ministry of Health’s services; intensively in supporting national institutions in public policy 9 Regional Relief and Recovery Operation: implemented to protect development, with a special focus on policies directed to vulnerable populations and enhance their ability to respond to enhancing social protection for the most vulnerable, and fighting recurrent economic and natural disasters shocks. It includes relief, child hunger and undernutrition. food-for-work and food-for-asset as well as capacity development 9 Finally, WFP El Salvador is currently working on strengthening activities with an emphasis on agricultural production and income its focus on Climate Change issues, given the country’s high diversification; vulnerability and the potential consequences that the CC 9 Purchase for Progress (P4P): Through this new modality WFP phenomena is expected to have on people food and nutritional seeks to reduce agricultural households’ vulnerability to food security75. insecurity by leveraging its purchasing power, strengthening local production capacity and stimulating local food markets; 9 Emergency Preparedness and Response: WFP El Salvador provides leadership and support at both the national and regional level in this competence area, including: a) managing the WFP Regional Humanitarian Response Centre for Central America

75 WFP, “Learning from Experience. Good Practices from 45 year of School Feeding”, Rome, 2009, pp.38 (which since its establishment in mid-2007 already assisted major ss.

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5.2 A successful handover experience The study is structured around two simple questions: 9 Where are we now? To establish the current status and In 2008, the school feeding program in El Salvador became wholly achievements of the program. owned and implemented by the government after 23 years of reliance on 9 How did we get here? To identify the series of action taken that implementation partnerships, principally with the World Food led to that result. Programme (WFP). The programme started during the country’s internal crisis in 1984, planning to reach 200,000 students from preschool 5.3 The current status of School Feeding through grade six in rural areas. In 1997, five years after the signing of in El Salvador the peace accords, the government began to take the programme management responsibilities while WFP withdrew from departments no The school feeding program in El Salvador annually reaches around longer classified as among the most food insecure. 870,000 children, ages 5 to 15 years, in all rural and low-income urban Currently, the government receives external support from WFP for areas. It is implemented as a social development program with the technical assistance, logistics, and procurement trough a trust fund that objectives of meeting the immediate food requirements of children, was established in 2008. Through this agreement, WFP is piloting increasing enrolment and retention and reducing absenteeism, and procurement innovation under its corporate Purchase for Progress improving the health habits of assisted children. School feeding also has initiative, which aims to link local procurement with the school feeding a social protection role in the country, implicitly transferring resources to program. poor households. In 2009, the government of El Salvador and WFP decided to carry out a School feeding in El Salvador has benefited from the support of several study of the evolution of the school feeding programme in El Salvador high-level political champions who have advocated the programme’s from 1984 to 2008 to document the process of transition to a nationally expansion and helped to ensure its sustainability. Currently, school led program. feeding is at the cornerstone of the country’s multisectoral development The study covers school feeding activities from 1984 to 2008. There is a program centred on children and youth called, Esquela Saludable general gap in information from 1984 to 1992. Data from 1992 through (Healthy Schools). early 2009 are fairly consistent, although there are some discrepancies This section explores the characteristics of the program on five levels: between government and WFP sources. Here we present a preliminary Policy framework; Institutional framework; Financial framework; analysis with the information available. The findings should be Design and implementation; School – level arrangements and interpreted as a work in progress because more information will be infrastructure. collected in the future.

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5.3.1 The National Policy Framework include the Ministers of Education, Health, Agriculture, and Public Works. There is also a Technical Working Group in charge of following School feeding is part of a wider multisectoral school health and up decisions made by the Steering Committee. nutrition initiative, called Esquela Saludable, managed by a division in El Salvador has 14 departments and in each there is a multisectoral team charge of flagship social programs, which is attached to the President’s in charge of the program that manages activities at a local level. office, led by the first Lady. The program is also in the National At the municipal level there are also staff and capacity for storage and Education Sector Plan, in the National Government Plan, and most distribution of food. At the school level, a school feeding committee importantly in the operational plans of the Ministry of Education, which headed by the director of the school and composed of parents and determines the budgetary requirements of the program. teachers oversee the daily implementation of the program. According to government officials, one of the most important factors for the sustainability of the program is whether there is a political and 5.3.3 The Financial Framework financial commitment to the program. In the case of El Salvador, commitments exist at a presidential and ministerial level and there is a The program is currently financed exclusively with government funds. budget line for the program within the national budget. The majority of the program’s requirements are covered through regular funds, following a 2005 decision by the Legislative Assembly to 5.3.2 The Institutional Framework establish a budget line for school feeding. The rest of the requirements are covered through a trust fund that was established in 1999 with the As mentioned above, the program is part of the multisectoral initiative proceeds from the privatization of a national telecommunications managed by a division attached to the President’s Office. But, the company. A national law requires that the interest generated by this fund responsibility to design, manage, and implement the program lies with be allocated to social programs, including school feeding. In 2008, the the Ministry of Education. A unit within the ministry that manages trust fund provided around US$3 million for school feeding. School programs that are considered to be complementary to the provision of feeding is embedded in the Ministry of Education’s annual budget. The basic education (for example, life skills, health and nutrition, school budget for school feeding in 2009 is US$17 million. feeding), is responsible for day-to-day activities. The unit has a director and 10 government officials assigned full time to the program, and an operational budget. Oversight and coordination for Escuela Saludable are managed through a National Steering Committee chaired by the First Lady. Members

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5.3.4 Program design and implementation country. There are plans to explore local purchase mechanisms under WFP’s new Purchase for Progress initiative.

The program currently provides a standardized on-site meal to more than 870,000 children. The meal provides about 26 percent and 20 percent of 5.3.5 School-level arrangements and infrastructure daily requirements for calories and protein, respectively. The food basket is made up of rice, oil, fortified drink, beans, milk, and sugar. Food deliveries are done three times per year, and deposited in The program is targeted to children from 5 to 15 years old (pre-primary, government owned warehouses at the municipal level in each primary, and the first three grades of secondary) in all public schools in department. Parent/teacher committees are in charge of picking up the rural and low-income urban areas of the country. It is implemented in all food from these delivery points, taking it to the schools, and storing and 14 departments. managing it for daily distribution. The ministry has a monitoring and evaluation system, managed at a Community committees are responsible for cooking and distributing the central level. food to the children daily. The committees can choose whether to hire Although the government has fully taken over the management and cooks, pay community members, or volunteer. A baseline survey done in financial responsibilities of the program, the Ministry of Education relies early 2009 indicates that about 70 percent of the schools that were visited on external support for technical assistance to improve the efficiency of depend on volunteers to cook the food. These are generally women, school feeding. Under a new agreement signed between the ministry and mothers of children in the school. In about 30 percent of the cases, the WFP in 2008, WFP assists the government with procurement and committees hire cooks. logistics for school feeding, and will undertake a study to redesign the As a result of extensive training and sensitization over the life of the food basket, training and sensitization at the local level, a review of the program, community participation and ownership is very high. The same targeting procedures, and the establishment of a strategic food reserve baseline survey indicates that in almost 80 percent of the schools visited, for the program. These activities are done with national resources. parents participate in the cooking of the food, and in 70 percent of the By leveraging its experience in food procurement in the region, WFP has schools they participate in the distribution of the food to the children. been able to increase the efficiency of the procurement process. In 2008, Adequate infrastructure at school level is a concern. About 67 percent of WFP was able to buy all the food requirements of the program with less the schools have proper kitchen facilities. In the remaining 33 percent of money than planned, generating savings for the government of about schools, parents have to cook the food outside of school premises. The US$3 million. Savings were then used to expand coverage of the majority of schools do not have appropriate eating areas for children and program and increase the food basket. Procurement is done nationally almost 60 percent of schools lack potable water for cooking. These are and regionally because there are seasonal food deficit periods in the some of the challenges that will be tackled in the coming years.

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5.4 A preliminary Study of the Transition Process of inserted into a wider national school health program, Escuela Saludable, School Feeding in El Salvador an initiative led by the country’s First Lady. During this period, funds from donors (mainly the U.S. Agency for

The transition to a nationally owned school feeding program in El International Development) were secured to allow the government to Salvador took approximately 23 years to complete. This section start taking over designated portions of the program. In 2005, the reconstructs the chronology, based on literature reviews and interviews Legislative Assembly approved a budget line for school feeding, with government and WFP staff. institutionalizing the program within the national budget. The final handover of responsibilities from WFP to the government occurred at the 5.4.1 The Transition Process: Milestones end of 2007 (stage 5). Recently, the government requested WFP’s support to manage the procurement and logistics of food commodities

for the program using national funding under a trust fund. The transition to a nationally owned school feeding program in El

Salvador took 23 years, as figure A1.1 illustrates. 5.4.2 Steps of the Process in El Salvador

Figure A1.2 presents a schematic representation of the transition and the

main actions that took place during the transition.

9 Laying the foundations (1984–95). During the first 11 years of

implementation the program depended on WFP resources and

capacity to operate. In that time, aside from food assistance, WFP

also supported the Ministry of Education in building the

institutional framework that would later support the program

(including creating the program’s technical and steering

committee, and setting up a designated unit within the Ministry of

Education). This process created the foundations that would later

support the program within the Ministry of Education. The program started in 1984 relying mainly on WFP for the funding and implementation (stage 1). In 1996, 12 years later, the program was

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9 Institutionalizing the Program (1996–2005). The period from pipeline of the program in danger. In 2007 the ministry had 1996 to 2005 appears to be the critical period of transition. planned to organize three food deliveries to the schools and could During this time, the government identified school feeding as a only deliver two, which left the schools without food during the strategic program for the development of the country, inserted last part of the year. As a consequence, the ministry requested school feeding in the broader policy framework, explored sources WFP’s assistance as a strategic partner for the program. Under of funding other than WFP, explored different modalities of this innovative arrangement, the ministry transfers resources to implementation—including several changes in the food basket WFP under a trust fund for the procurement and delivery of food and in the delivery mechanisms—and increased its capacity to to the schools. WFP also provides technical assistance in the implement the program through extensive training. This period design and management of the program76. culminated with a stable source of funding for the program coming from the national budget, which effectively institutionalized the program and enhanced its sustainability considerably. This transition appears to have benefited from the leadership of high-level political champions, including two First Ladies and the current Minister of Education. Extensive capacity development was undertaken during this period.

9 Learning by Doing and Looking Ahead (2006–08). The ministry is increasingly confronted with several challenges of implementation related to the complete ownership of the program. According to government officials, the most challenging aspect of implementing the program has been the procurement and logistics arrangements, which are the two critical elements in service delivery for food-based programs. This new responsibility seems to have significantly burdened the ministry, especially in relation to its main responsibility related to education. The lack of experience in procurement, coupled with

extremely high food prices in the local market and changes in 76 D. BUNDY, C. BURBANO, M. GROSH, A. GELLI, M.JUKES, L.DRAKE, “Rethinking school feeding. Social safety nets, child development, and the education sector”, The World Bank, Washington, 2009, pp. 99 ss. national legislation related to procurement, seem to have put the

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homes were destroyed. Most of the grain which had been recently Chapter VI harvested was lost, buried in the rubble, and thousands of livestock were killed. Case Study: first WFP Emergency Operations. Most of the food needed from outside the country for the relief of the victims of the disaster was made available by government and various Report on Iran, Thailand, Algeria, Morocco, relief agencies. The World Food Programme was called upon to provide Tanganyika 270 tons of sugar and 27 tons of tea for the sustenance of the victims, especially during the winter months and to replace up to 1500 tons of During the period from October 1962 to March 1963, the World Food wheat which the Government would procure for seed purposes from Programme rendered assistance to the Government of Iran, Thailand, locally available food stocks. Algeria, Morocco and Tanganyika for relief of emergencies involving As the amount of sugar specifically pledged to WFP was too small, the food shortage. Executive Director requested the Government of India for the supply of The WFP’s governing body, the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) the needed quantity against India commodities pledge to the content of realised that “the experience of these operations, which were the first to which was unspecified at the time. The Government was able to comply be undertaken by WFP, has shown that delays can occur at different with the request and 270 tons was procured and shipped to Iran, arriving stages, and the Executive Director believes that with the concerted effort in the second week of February 1963. of WFP and the donor and recipient countries the time spent for each The Government of Indonesia offered to supply tea that was already stage mentioned could be minimised in future emergency operations. The stored at the ports. Attempts to lift the cargo were, however, method suggested for joint consultations could shorten the time taken for unsuccessful because procedural difficulties in connection with reaching a decision as to the nature and the extent of the assistance to be exporting could not be resolved in time for shipment in the vessels provided by WFP”.77 arranged locally by WFP. India was then requested to also supply the tea and 27 tons were shipped to Iran which arrived, third week of March, 6.1 Iran 1963. The distribution of the commodities to beneficiaries was undertaken by

the Government of Iran with the assistance of CARE. A disastrous earthquake occurred on the night of 1 September 1962 and The supply of wheat in replacement of the stocks procured by the caused extensive loss of life and property in the Hamdan-Jasvin-Saveh Government, for use as seed, would be undertaken when the quantity so region of the country. Some 12,000 people lost their lives and 15,000 procured was definitely known.

77 WFP, “Third Session of the Internal Committee” , Rome, 13 to 18 May 1963.

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6.2 Thailand 6.3 Algeria

Thailand was ravaged by a severe hurricane in October 1962 in the six In Algeria, the government was faced with the problem of relocating and provinces of the southern region. Over 43,000 houses were damaged and providing food to millions of underfed people. These people consisted 10,300 people lost 62 fishing boats and some 65,000 metres fishing nets, mostly of refugees returning from Morocco and Tunisia and those of which they largely depended on for their livelihood. displaced by military operations. Assistance was requested by the Feeding the homeless and jobless people for about 90 days, the government to the World Food Programme in November 1962. The Government was able to supply enough rice, but it needed protein-rich Programme supplied 10,000 tons of dried beans which was sufficient for food to supplement the rice diet. The WFP consequently requested to four months. This was taken out of the commodities pledge of the United provide 55 tons of canned fish and 10 tons of condensed milk. Arab Republic. The Programme was able to meet these food needs in good time thanks Six thousand two hundred tons of beans were shipped in two chartered to the rapid action taken by the Governments of The Netherlands and vessels, and reached the designated Algerian ports in the third and fourth Australia. This was following a request made to them by the Executive week of January 1963. On arrival at these ports a large number of the Director in supplying these commodities against their pledges and sacks in which the beans were packed were found to have been damaged shipping them to Bangkok. and the beans had spilled into the ship’s holds. Further shipment was The Government of The Netherlands immediately made available, in therefore suspended to permit adequate re-bagging of the remaining Bangkok, 10 tons of condensed milk. This came out of the commercial beans. This was being undertaken by the donor country and 3,800 tons stock held by the representative of a Dutch firm and was followed was expected to be shipped in the third week of April 1963. closely by an equivalent consignment from the Netherlands to replenish The distribution of the beans was carried out by the league of Red Cross the already drawn upon commercial stock. Fifty-five tons of canned fish Societies, The Christian Committee for services in Algeria and the were procured in the Netherlands and shipped to Bangkok. Catholic Relief Services/NCWC on behalf of the Government. Although canned beef was not mentioned in Australia’s pledge, the Government responded to the Executive Director’s requested for its 6.4 Morocco supply and shipped 55 tons to Thailand on the first available vessel. The Government of Thailand distributed the commodities to the affected Morocco suffered heavily from the extensive floods of the Sebou River areas through the Department of Welfare. system which occurred in the first week of January 1963. About 170,000

hectares of agricultural land was affected. Standing crops as well as

harvest crops stored in underground silos were destroyed and thousands

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of people were made homeless. The Government sought the assistance of interested agencies and governments was, however, not so readily WFP and a staff member visited the country for consultation with the achieved owing to the distance involved. Government. Immediate relief was provided to some extent by the It was in the country affected where the representatives of all interested government out of food stocks available in unaffected parts of the agencies and governments could come together that coordination could country. The Programme undertook to provide 33,000 tons of wheat. be best achieved. The government of any country, in which an This was to be used partly for distribution to needy flood victims and emergency occurred, and which would need international assistance, partly for the replenishment of stocks issued by the Government and for would therefore be advised to immediately set up a committee, including sowing the affected lands after the floods subsided. The first 7,200 tons, the representatives of the governments and agencies concerned. Within which were being supplied by the Government of France, was expected this committee, joint consultations on the assistance needed and the to reach Morocco in the second and third week of April, 1963. possibilities of such assistance from individual governments and The wheat was distributed by the Government of Morocco through the agencies in relation to the situation in the country would be conducted. Office of Cereals.

6.5 Tanganyika

In Tanganyika the government has been engaged in resettling about

12,000 refugees from Rwanda. Its resources, including assistance from other countries being near exhaustion, requested WFP for assistance with supplies of dried fish, beans and groundnuts for consumption by the refugees for six months, and a small quantity of beans for sowing.

Fifty tons of dried cod fish supplied by Norway out of her pledge have been shipped and were expected to reach Tanganyika in the second half of April 1963.

In undertaking these operations to assist in the aforementioned emergencies, the Executive Director had endeavoured to afford timely assistance, complementing the assistance offered by the countries’ other resources. With this objective in mind, close coordination with FAO was maintained at headquarters. Coordination with the headquarters of other

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Chapter VII humanitarian/emergency portfolio was very small. We were first exposed to an emergency situation in the 1970s, at the time of the

great famine. However, the event that started changing WFP was Interviews the great famine in 1985, which covered the whole African horn: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and through Sudan: Chad, Niger, Mali. That whole area of Africa, from coast-to-coast, was 7.1 Interview with Mr. Ramiro Armando subject to a major series of drought, which led to famine. At that de Oliveira Lopes da Silva, time, WFP was asked to respond to such disaster as a multilateral 78 WFP Deputy Executive Director for External Relations instrument for food aid assistance. As a result, WFP suddenly became an organisation with a very large emergency relief 1. On the basis of assignments assumed by WFP and the portfolio. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were a series of experiences lived in the field, what changes did you notice in civil conflicts, and once again WFP was asked to be there in order WFP’s “modus operandi”? Over the past decades, therefore, to change/provide relief assistance. On one hand, this change of what developments and changes did you observed in the way WFP modus operandi in some of the countries we worked in had an has intervened in emergency, rebuilding and development impact on our own profile, our own processes and procedures. operations? There were ongoing debates on the two elements. One was on the value of food aid as a long-term development resource, making it When the World Food Programme was created, we were possible for WFP to use its resource food aid to impact on the fundamentally a development organisation and our lives of poor people in a way that we could transform those lives. There were issues related to the potential distortion of markets,

78 Mr. Ramiro Armando de Oliveira Lopes da Silva became Deputy Executive Director for External Relations disincentives to agriculture in the countries where we operated. of of the World Food Programme in March 2010. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Lopes da Silva served as WFP’s Director of Emergencies and Deputy Chief Operating Office. the second element was the weaknesses in a large number of Mr. Lopes da Silva began his career with the World Food Programme in 1985 as Food Aid Logistics Coordinator during the Great Horn of Africa and Sahel drought emergency. Since then, he has held senior developing countries, particularly in Africa, which did not only management roles in operations in many countries, including Ethiopia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Angola and Sudan. He has held other senior positions in WFP including Director of Transport and Logistics from included weaknesses of governance as well as corruption. The 1998 to 2002. During the period 2001-2002, he was also appointed as Special Envoy of the WFP Executive Director for the Afghanistan Crisis. In 2004, he was appointed Regional Director for the newly-established Bureau in Sudan, until 2006 when he returned to Rome as Director of the Transport and Procurement model that had been adopted for the development assistance in the Division. In addition to his WFP responsibilities, Mr. Lopes da Silva was the UN Assistant Secretary General and 1980s was questioned. Is it worthwhile to work through the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq from 2002 to 2004, subsequently becoming, in 2004, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. Prior to joining the UN World Food national governments or is it better to work at community level? Programme, Mr. Lopes da Silva worked for the Mozambique Port and Railways (CFM) from 1975 to 1983. He started as a Port Equipment Maintenance Engineer and by 1978 Mr. Lopes da Silva was the Therefore, you have three factors for which we had no control Director General of the CFM-South with 17,000 workers reporting to him, managing a budget of over US$100 million. A Portuguese national, Mr. Lopes da Silva was born in Beira, Mozambique. over, but influenced the way we operated. One, the expansion of

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our relief portfolio, two, the issue of food aid as a long term now everything is a country-led government ownership. Once development resource, and three, a change of the perspective on again during this transition, not only do we discuss the profile, but how to engage with national governments on development and a also the substance of the programmes ensuring that the national greater focus on communities. All these three factors impacted policies address the issues related with hunger, food insecurity, WFP in the following manner: First, we started giving much more malnutrition, targeting poor people. Throughout this process we attention to our relief intervention, our preparedness, the profile of are introducing the new modalities from the Purchase for Progress the staff, all the logistics which have created the outstanding (P4P) to the cash vouchers, which is WFP readjusting to today’s reputation of WFP today that did not exist in the late 1980s. All context. We know that the empirical evidence indicates the these were skills that WFP had to create in order to be able to number of natural disasters is growing and the impact of these respond to the new context. Secondly, from a policy perspective, natural disasters is larger today than they were in the past, being for our development portfolio, we indirectly engaged the member droughts in Africa or hurricanes in parts of Central America. states and abandoned the previous, large scale, food for work Therefore, our relief emergency portfolio continues to grow, and programmes, which were mainly large public works schemes at the same time we adjust the process to the new context of owned by the governments of the countries where we operated. development assistance. So the enormous challenge for WFP is to We downsized by working directly with communities, changing be able to keep a balance between these two pillars. our focus from large infrastructure programmes to developing assets along with the assets identified by the communities 2. Internally at WFP, what developments and changes from a themselves. Therefore, our real engagement was with the political point of view can you identify in the past 20 years? communities at a local level. If we fast forward to today, what is happening still has an impact I mentioned before that the transition from our long-term on the way we operate. WFP, I always say, is a journey. As we development perspective to where we are today is mainly continue on our journey, we keep adjusting to the context summarized in a very important policy document, which was accordingly. The period we are in now is on one hand of approved by our Executive Board in 1999. recognition, that food surplus does not exist anymore, while it In this document we say food aid can be used in ways that create existed at the time WFP was created. There is more and more opportunities for poor, hungry people to have access to long-term focus on how we can use cash resources, targeting food insecure development. Therefore, all our focus on the social agenda, school people, people who suffer from hunger in the countries where we feeding, maternal and child health and nutrition, asset creation at operate. Secondly, after a period of almost 20 years, the role of the community level, aims at creating opportunities for the hungry, national governments in the developing countries has changed. So poor people to have access to long-term development. This

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demonstrated that the debate was an internal debate impacting the way we accomplish our operations . 3. Throughout your work and life experiences, what has been the Additionally, I believe that over time, looking at how WFP’s most notable experience? What stands out for you? profile changed in the last 25 years, in terms of staff composition, we have many more colleagues today from the countries where we I have had 25 fantastic years with WFP. I have enjoyed all of my have programmes than when I joined WFP, which was mainly assignments, less so the ones in headquarters, because I have staffed by Americans, Canadians, Europeans and North Africans, always been a field person. But I think that the assignment that and very few other nationalities. impacted me the most was my recent assignment in Haiti, January How WFP adjusted to these different contexts including this staff this year. Even though after 9/11, I was deployed to Afghanistan composition, is a reflection of how politics impacted internally on as the WFP special envoy, travelling from Afghanistan to Iraq us. In the arena of relief emergency, we operate in what we call before the invasion and staying there until after the invasion. Then complex environments in, for example, Somalia or Pakistan or I moved from Iraq to Darfur, followed by Rwanda at the time of Afghanistan, where not only do we have issues of hunger, the genocide and the movement of the Hutus to Eastern Congo. malnutrition, natural disasters, droughts in Somalia and The Executive Director had asked me to go to Haiti. I went 10 Afghanistan, but we also have a very difficult context of conflict. days after the earthquake and stayed for about 6 weeks. Haiti, Port Therefore, you prepare staff not only to look at issues from a au Prince impressed me, because it was the first time the technical and technocratic viewpoint, but you train the staff to be humanitarian community, not only WFP, was responding to a able to negotiate with different groups, fighting for power, natural disaster in a very large urban centre. An urban centre that remaining impartial/neutral, independent, how you negotiate had already a very fragile, or non-existing structure. An urban access to beneficiaries, all being new attributes that WFP did not centre that already had very visible, political, and social tensions, own when I joined the organisation over 20 years ago. It is all in a country that is characterised by what I call fragmented things that we have developed over time to respond to the context politics. Haiti is not a country where you have two or three big where we operate, not only the broad international context but the parties that manage the political process. Therefore, in this specific operational context. Within each country, one needs to instance, the humanitarian community managed to change their develop the skills, understand the local communities and the response because 1. Humanitarians had also, for the first time, dynamics, and what the different groups think. Then, to engage in been victims of a natural disaster. Therefore, all the big capacities, the negotiations, you have to have access and to maintain your such as UN peacekeeping, lost the leadership. In addition, space. Keeping in mind that you should engage in a way that you agencies had colleagues killed as a result of the earthquake. We maintain your independence, your neutrality, your impartiality. lost all our offices, our vehicles, our assets. 2. We were confronted

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with a totally new context, consequently, being one of my most contrary to what we do in Sudan, we cannot have the WFP staff at challenging assignments. each distribution site at the moment each distribution takes place. Our risk, therefore, of having corruption is higher in Somalia then 4. Unfortunately scandals and corruption are on today’s agenda. it is in Kenya. Some of these have involved WFP. How would you respond to How we address those challenges is very important and I think we resolve these issues? have the right approach. We have developed the strategies and the modalities to do so, by triangulating information, engaging the WFP is an organisation that deals with food. Firstly, food is a very local communities, creating hotlines to allow the local large, voluminous, cumbersome resource, which implies long communities to provide us with feedback when they think that supply chains, and a lot of contracting between the point of origin something is not being done, and by engaging other partners in and the final destination at the distribution site. Therefore, the providing that feedback to us on what is happening within our possibility of corruption, diversions, and misuse along that supply distribution sites. The reputation risks are great when we operate chain is something that we have always had. Furthermore, the in those contexts, so what we need is to be very open when we systems we have put in place mitigate that risk. However, food engage with our member states explaining what is the context, has another characteristic, it is easy to market. If you hand out what are the mitigation strategies we are putting in place and what mosquito pills it is not essentially a resource that is attractive and is the residual risk that is always going to be there. Then it is that one can sell on the local market. However, you can sell your decided if it is worthwhile to save the lives of Somali children. Is wheat, maize, beans, sugar, and salt in the local market. Therefore, it worthwhile to take this residual risk? We need to be very open is it not only the risk of diversion and corruption along the supply and very transparent with our member states so we do not raise chain, but also the same risks at the level of distribution. We have expectations that the world is perfect when unfortunately it is not. over time developed systems to try and reduce or mitigate those risks and we have a very strong policy of zero tolerance when this 5. The donors and financiers of these WFP operations are the same happens, including when those diversions are undertaken by people who leave these developing countries with unresolved personnel of the national governments in the countries concerned. public debts. Does this look like a contradiction? What is your We have countries reimbursing us for commodities that were opinion regarding this? misused or misappropriated. In today’s context there is an additional issue in which I made a real reference to the complex That is a tough question and I think it is true. But I also think environments, where our ability to monitor is reduced because of when the member states support WFP, they support us because concerns related with staff security. For instance, in Somalia, our direct impact with the communities where we work. When

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they provide the more traditional long-term development increased and the response from the international community does assistance, which is generated through infrastructure development, not seem to be sufficient and effective. What are your thoughts then the recipient country will not be able to pay it back. Their regarding this? How is WFP positioned in this framework? approach is more a technocratic approach confirming that it is true that there is a contradiction. On the one hand, what these countries There are always two ways to look at the glass of water, it is half need to do is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. On empty or it is half full. Now the way I look at it, it is half full. the other hand, there are all the issues related with the social Unfortunately, it is true that in absolute numbers, the number of protection and the opportunities for the poor, food insecure hungry people in the world has increased. In 2007, FAO communities. In the end it is the same level of contradiction that estimated, in absolute numbers, at under 70 million and then in you have in the rich countries themselves. Why do you have social 2009 just over 1 billion . On one side we need to be aware that protection programmes in all the European countries or the United there has been some progress. In absolute numbers the challenge States? The food stamp programme in the United States is we have today is much bigger than the challenge we had in the probably the biggest food aid programme in the world. In the end, past. Now, I believe that the 2008 high food prices called the it is this quote unquote ‘contradiction’. On one side, the hard attention of the world to this situation and of the political business looks at the issues and addresses them as such. On the leadership at a global level. Then, for the first time you hear heads other side, taking into account that there are social impacts, there of state, heads of governments who talk about issues of food are social imbalances. The world is not fair and the wealth is not security and nutrition. They never spoke about those issues 10 distributed in an even manner, therefore, you have the need to years ago. Suddenly, however, they realised that at first they had manage those social protection issues. And, in a way through us, not focussed on a very crucial issue, which I think is if you do not particularly on school feeding and on mother and child health, you address hunger you forget about the other MDGs. So if you do not are investing in the next generation of the countries where we succeed in hunger, even if you are making progress, it is a fragile work. Therefore, it is indeed in a way a contradiction, but it is kind of progress. The moment you stop making investments, they almost a natural contradiction. are not sustainable because there is hunger and everything falls behind, health, nutrition, and so on. Suddenly they realise that 6. "To eliminate extreme poverty and hunger: to be halved between they are not addressing the core issues of food insecurity and of 1990 and 2015, the percentage of people who live on less than one hunger. Food insecurity would then impact on the stability of the dollar a day. To be halved, between 1990 and 2015, the world. As politicians they then refocus on these issues. Therefore, percentage of people who suffer from hunger". This is the first like the pendulum, it is in one position and then suddenly they MDG objective (SO1). Today the number of hungry people has realise there is a problem, the pendulum is then released and they

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move into totally different positions. There is a lot of focus now discussions with the African Union as to why the African on food security and fortunately, it is still being looked at as an countries do not create a regional weather insurance scheme, issue of making food available. Therefore, increasing the supply which allows countries to call upon the insurance when they are side, by investing largely in agriculture, is fundamental. The issue confronted with a drought and then would need to compensate that we are calling on the attention of the world, is we know a lot their farmers because their farmers lost their harvest and as a of hungry poor in the countries with surplus. So if you want to result have nothing. Therefore, we are insisting very much on the address food security, food insecurity and hunger, you need to issues of access to social protection and on the issues related with tackle the supply side, but you need to make sure that the hungry the future. Not only do we have food available but we have food poor have access to the food available. We are therefore pushing quality which makes a huge difference. This is how we are for a comprehensive approach that has to tackle the social engaging in the present debate by encouraging investments on the protection issues, which creates the safety net. The potential for supply side, increasing agriculture production and at the same increased production in the world is basically with the small time we are saying, let’s be sure we have the safety net and the farmers in the developing world. These small farmers are poor social protection in place. On one side, supporting the investment people who live on less than a dollar a day. If you are poor and of the small farmer, and on the other side, to ensure that the next you are asked to make investments to increase your productivity generation is better nurtured, better educated so they can take the and your production you are very careful, you are very cautious in next step. the way you do that because you know, if you fail by experimenting on a new seed, by experimenting on a new agriculture technique, you are going to lose all your assets. You lose all your assets, you lose your land, you lose your goat, your cow and you are totally impoverished. If you want to get the small farmers engaged, you need to ensure that you are creating the safety net that guarantees them that if it fails an environment has been created that support them to take the risk and this is why we insist so much. P4P is a good example, because we are telling the small farmers you can take the risk with WFP to buy your food or to assist you if you go through a bad year. This is why we are engaging with the African Union. We tested the weather insurance system in Ethiopia and it was successful. Now we are engaging in

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7.2 Interview with Mr. Amir Mahmoud Abdulla, development, 5% emergency to be by the late 1980s, early 1990s WFP Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating up to 60% -70% emergency. By the early 1990s we were getting Officer79 up to 80% and eventually even 90% focused on emergency and

really only about 10% on development. This was a huge

transformation, which I think really did catapult WFP into a 1. On the basis of assignments undertaken by WFP and the position as a premier humanitarian organization dealing in some experiences that you personally lived in the field, what changes of the most difficult emergencies around the world. In places that have you noticed in WFP’s “modus operandi”? were affected by conflict, affected by weather - climate patterns, affected by economic shocks, affected by disasters like natural One of the key things that have happened over the years in WFP, disasters, floods and earthquakes and so forth. Perhaps during that is that we have been transformed from a fairly small food surplus time, the shift in focus in some of the countries in which we agency that was dealing only with development issues or focusing worked also changed. Another thing, WFP at its birth was born as mainly on development. One has to go right back to the 1960s to a programme that was designed to fall under the UNDP and FAO. see that focus which was mainly on development and using that When it was first set up it was almost like an experiment to see food surplus in programmes that were very small in scale and not how it would be and now it has grown into an organization, an necessarily integrated into a larger picture within the general agency within its own right. This transformation has included development of the country, which we were working with. Over along the way things like WFP’s Country Directors becoming those 50 years, as we have transformed, there has been some very representatives of WFP within the country that they work. With significant changes, the most significant of course came in the late that identity, even with the huge shift towards emergency, we still 1970s, early 1980s which was when WFP really started to emerge have the identity emerging, which allowed us to integrate our as an emergency focused organization culminating towards the programmes much more with an international interest. These are end of the 1980s. At this point we had shifted from being 95% some of the main transformations. If these were mega

79 Amir Mahmoud Abdulla became Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World transformations, I think what we have seen in the last few years is Food Programme in March 2009. Before assuming his current post, Mr. Abdulla was WFP’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from January 2008. another transformation that focused more on food surpluses, Mr. Abdulla’s career at WFP began as a logistics officer in 1991. He then went on to serve in a variety of field and headquarters posts including as Project Manager (2000-2001) responsible for implementing the corporate information management system, and as Director of Budget (2001-2004). which are not really a luxury that the countries have as much of In 2004, Mr. Abdulla was named Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe Bureau where he served until July 2006, at which point he took up the post of Regional Director for Southern today. Even if there are food excesses in parts of the world and Africa until his return to headquarters in 2008. Prior to joining WFP, he was a Branch Manager for Juba and Port Sudan for shipping and forwarding company Transintra, and Assistant Area Manager for engineering food shortages in others, WFP still tries to work towards moving company, Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor, in the Sudan. Mr. Abdulla also taught at the American School & Comboni College in Khartoum. A Sudanese national, Mr. Abdulla was born in food in places where it is in excess to others. However, it is just Khartoum, Sudan, in 1957. He is a graduate of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University, reading Electrical Engineering and graduating in June 1978 with a BSc Honours degree and not accomplished through the old style surplus donation of food, it ACGI Associateship of The City & Guilds of London Institute.

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now involves commercial activities. Most of our donors now 2. Over the past decades, what evolutions and transformations contribute cash, and we use that cash either to buy food and move have been noted in the way WFP has intervened in emergency, it when there is a food shortage in countries or we are now trying rebuilding and development operations? to do more and more cash and voucher programmes, putting income transfer in the hands of those we serve so that they can WFP has focused very much on the lifesaving and protecting of buy locally and help to stimulate markets. This is another livelihoods in emergencies. There are times where if people do not transformation that is under way at the moment and with that get food they will die, so that is lifesaving, and there are other comes the possibility not to necessarily shift the focus of attention times where if they do not get food, they will have no option but away from emergency. I still believe that WFP has a major role to to go to what we call coping mechanisms, which are extreme and play in that area, but allows us to play a better role perhaps in basically reduce their status of being able to sustain future shocks. development and allows us to have a more focused and For example, maybe a house has one chicken and they sell the appropriate development programme to take part in the country’s chicken. Maybe if they have a cow or a goat, they sell that. Or own priorities, and maybe see a rekindling of WFP’s role in maybe they have to rent their land or they have to sell what few development. We have very different tools to put on the table and small goods they have, which means that people just become through these cash interventions there is a much higher degree and poorer. We categorize this as livelihood protection. Therefore, we focus on nutrition and nutritional products, rather than just the give food so that they do not do things that would put them in a classic food emergency distributions used to focus on getting basic position where they would become poorer and more vulnerable. foods, such as maize, beans, oil, salt, to people in the fight for Certainly in the early 1990s, WFP passed through a policy or hunger. Now we are trying to ensure that we also fight strategy paper, which switched from crisis to recovery. In this malnutrition and deal with the nutritional aspects focusing on paper, we really did outline the need to look at recovery aspects as ensuring that children get the right food that they need and early as possible in a relief crisis. I saw this myself when I worked nutritional content. So in as much as we made the shift into the in Angola in 1995. We were working with displaced persons, emergency and humanitarian, there is another shift going on at the people who had to leave their homes because of the civil war and moment and we are in the middle of that. among these people, mainly women had small family plots that they normally had in their villages where they would grow cassava, which was their main staple. What we knew from surveys was that they were returning to the areas they were from, in this case, to the town of Malange. Because they had left their villages and their fields for many years, the cassava plants had all died and

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there would be nothing for them when they went back. So we I think that the donor communities’ view of WFP is very clear in were doing a feeding programme in Malange, but with one group that they wish us to remain very much a nimble, emergency of women we had a food for work programme where these women focused organization. That in itself has been a great strength, were actually growing cassava. The idea was that they grew the because we have been well funded as an emergency organization. cassava, a green leaf vegetable, where they would also use the It has caused certain stresses at times because often the countries cuttings. The main object of this project was that when they went in which we work want us to do more than just emergency so that back to their own fields, those cuttings would be used to grow the has been a difficulty. But I think probably the biggest next crops of cassava. It was like an emergency feeding transformation for WFP over the last 20 years has been an internal programme for the displaced women. But it had a longer term one, which has seen WFP move from a very centralized objective. When they went back home, they were able to start organization. It was roughly 20 years ago in which WFP was just planting and feeding their family with an iron and vitamin really emerging with its own real independence and identity. It enriched food. This is just one illustration or example of the way was the point at which our Country Directors were becoming in which WFP has focused on noting that in its emergency and representatives and getting more integrated into programmes relief programmes, the key objective is to save the lives or protect locally. But, it was also a period through which we went through a livelihoods. At the same time these things are not exclusive. You decentralization of the organization. We put our Regional Bureaus do not have to do it with a different programme so long as you and Regional Directors in the field, and we brought decision have the right focus or right additional input in. In the getting closer to the operations. We placed accountability closer to aforementioned case, we needed to have some agricultural tools the operations and today we have far more senior and experienced and we needed agricultural assistance from FAO to make sure managers in the field than we had before. And, there are far more they were growing the right types. As long as you have those experienced and senior managers at headquarters with field small additional inputs you are able take a programme that was experience. So I think this has been one of our aims to have a very providing the food for life and using it on the food for the future. mobile workforce both at headquarters and in the field, understanding both views. That is probably been one of the 3. Internally at WFP, what developments and changes from a biggest transformations over that period. political point of view have characterized the past 20 years?

I think that this major shift in the last 20 years, we have been focusing very much on emergency and relief including the additions that I have just mentioned with the more recent changes.

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4. Throughout your work and life experiences, what has been the are an early adopter of IPSAS, which is an accounting standard most noted experience? What stands out for you? that I was involved in at the time as well. Therefore, to have this role that we are on the cutting edge of humanitarian things, and at I think that probably working with WFP is at times a pain and at the same time still a leader also in accountability issues in the other times a privilege. It is a pain when you go out and see some United Nations, I think are some of the really rewarding things of of the things that we see but it is a privilege to be able to do working in an organization like WFP. something and help. So picking one instance is difficult, but I did not go to Haiti but I ran the taskforce from this end. certainly I think some of the work that we did in Angola, when I I think the most recent emergency that I visited three times within was a logistics officer, and we were working on roads and bridges a six week period, was the flooding in Pakistan. The flood in and just watching the way in which life came back to the little Pakistan was, as our own Executive Director has pointed out, one villages and markets in the areas that we were working, was really that many people will remember and talk about like the tsunami of quite remarkable. We were doing it primarily to move our food a few years ago. When you look at what happened in Pakistan transport and to see the way in which life developed around the versus the tsunami the difference was that it happened slowly and roads that we had built was very rewarding. I think that often not as many people, fortunately, were killed, because people were when we managed to get food convoys through very, very difficult able to move. However, the damage of the water is still apparent places, has always been very rewarding. Taking part in some of and there are still parts of Pakistan that are flooded today. our early air drops was again very exciting. However, I think Then I think about a much smaller operation in Kyrgyzstan when managing to go and see the transformation that the presence of the fighting was going on around Osh and I went up into the areas WFP can offer is incredible. For example, I was in one area where near Uzbekistan. WFP was one of the first agencies to go to children had been dying in a medical centre then, once food people after they had been locked in their homes. Again for the started arriving, within a few weeks/months you would have people it was not so much that we were bringing food, it was the children singing and joining in little nursery games during the fact that we were there. So often, it is things like that, that you feeding. Therefore, seeing changes like that is always very have memories of. rewarding. I have had a couple of very rewarding experiences and I think WFP, in addition to all of its field focus and humanitarian and emergency focus, is also a leader within the UN system in terms of its IT and finance systems and I have been very involved with the bringing in of SAP, which is a standard software product. We are one of the primary users of that within the UN system. We

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5. Unfortunately scandals and corruption are on today’s agenda. 6. The donors and financiers of these WFP operations, are they the Some of these have involved WFP. How would you respond to same people who leave these developing countries with unresolved resolve these issues? public debts. Does this not seem a contradiction? What is your opinion regarding this? I think the first point that I have to make very clear is that the one thing we do not tolerate within WFP is fraud or corruption One of the challenges we face at WFP is that we have very involving our own staff. If that is found, it is dealt with most generous donors, but one of the difficulties we face is that donors severely and I unfortunately am in a position where I have to sign are very generous but often donors themselves do not necessarily the memos that advise staff that their contracts are terminated when realize the pressures that they put on countries because donor this happens. Unfortunately, I find it sad when this happens, not contributions and the way donors work are also fragmented. For unfortunate that we take the action. So, we do take the action most example, the part of the government of a donor country that severely. I think unfortunately, that often because of the difficult contributes towards emergency and humanitarian relief is not places in which we work, things go on around us that we sometimes necessarily the same one that is dealing with loans and debts within have no control over. There are things that happen in some of the a country. I think this is now being recognized more by donor most difficult and dangerous places in the world that we have no countries and that is why we have the Paris declaration, the Accra control over but sometimes we have to live with that to be able to code and the Rome principles so that contributions to a country are deliver the food to the people whose lives we need to save. So the placed more in the hands of the government of that country to see answer to that is sometimes we have to go places and accept the its own priorities and fix its own debt problems. Therefore, I think things happening that we have no control over if we want to reach that the whole infrastructure of providing aid and debt relief is the people like we do. What we do have control over is the improving and certainly Italy for instance did a debt relief swap behaviour, ethics and attitude of our own staff. Let me be very with Egypt where they cancelled Egypt’s debt as long as Egypt clear, if anything happens that involves any of our own staff at any contributed to the food programme for WFP in Egypt. Indeed, the level, from the most junior to the most senior, serious action is WFP food programmes in Egypt were funded greatly by the Italian always taken and sometimes some of these are very sad. I have seen government relief of debt to Egypt. So this is a good example of that we have dismissed drivers who have stolen fuel that was not how countries can recognize if they find a way to relieve their debt worth more than $50, but we have a zero tolerance policy and zero by making it a part of developing aid which is a good thing. I think tolerance means zero tolerance. debt relief is a good tool as long as when relieving that debt, the country, which is being relieved, accepts that they have to make

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more of an input into human development within their own So private sector is now involved. But we will only deal with this countries and the Egypt-Italy-WFP was a very good example. when the developed and developing worlds, private sector, agencies such as WFP all get involved. The most encouraging thing I think is 7. “To eliminate extreme poverty and hunger: to be halved between that the youth of today, the generation that are leaving universities 1990 and 2015, the percentage of people who live on less than one today, have a far stronger conviction that it is unacceptable to dollar a day. To be halved, between 1990 and 2015, the percentage continue like this. I think that the youth of today recognize that if of people who suffer from hunger”. This is the first MDG objective we do not do something about this now, they are the people who (SO1). Today the number of hungry people has increased and the still have 50/60 /70 years ahead of them, whereas people like response from the international community does not seem to be myself, we are reaching the end of our careers and not many years sufficient and effective. What are your thoughts regarding this? left to go, even if in our lives we have tried and have sort of become How does WFP introduce itself in this picture? perhaps reconciled to the fact that it is too difficult to tackle. But my greatest belief is that the youth of today are engaged and that WFP’s work is obviously critical in working on that 1st MDG. they will find a solution. Unfortunately we are arriving at a time of financial and economic crisis across the developed world where funds are not so available. I think what we have to keep in mind, also donor countries have to keep in mind, that the amount of money that was needed to solve some of the financial crisis that happened, compared with what is needed to actually do something about hunger, is minimal. I think that in the long term people have to realize that not solving the poverty and hunger around the world is in the long term going to cost more than solving it. And that is a move WFP is working on with other agencies to try and bring the so-called cost of hunger to the table so that people can recognize that it is a good investment to deal with it. Unfortunately, we are going through difficult times and these are not easy issues to manage or discuss. But, on the bright side, I think elements of the private sector have realized that it is good business to try and end poverty because as people become wealthy, they actually use their wealth and keep companies going.

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7.3 Interview with Mrs. Ilaria Dettori, Chief School taking proper care of their babies and to apply good nutrition Feeding Programme Design and Support Division practices in the first two years of their life, which are critical for

long term cognitive capacity.

Take-home rations are monthly food rations that cover the family 1. In your capacity as the Director of the School Feeding requirements and are given to children that are particularly Programme, how do you believe that the School Feeding marginalised from education (often girls) as an incentive for Programme makes a difference? families to send them to school. In countries where the enrolment School feeding programmes provide a variety of mutually of girls is particularly low, this can have a dramatic impact on reinforcing benefits. Very few programmes have indeed so many their access to education, which also has an inter-generational benefits in so many areas. They are an incentive for parents to impact, as it is also proven that children (boys and girls) of better send children to school and keep them there. Children that have educated mothers are much more likely to stay and succeed in eaten nutritious food learn more at school and perform better, education. Take-home rations targeting vulnerable, food insecure particularly when school feeding programmes are associated with families also represent an income transfer to avoid that children deworming treatments. Children are healthier and do not miss as are withdrawn from school and are sent to work, as a many school days because they are sick. Enrolment increases, contribution to the family income. drop out reduces and attendance and pass rates improve. In times of crisis, school feeding is a powerful safety net that Children progress further and better through education and a prevents children from missing education because of droughts, higher number of children successfully complete their primary floods, earthquakes, and wars. By encouraging families in education at the right age and are adequately prepared for sending their children to school, school feeding contributes to re- secondary school. establishing normality and a safe, child-friendly environment in Properly designed school feeding programmes have an even the midst or in the aftermath of emergencies. stronger multiplier effect in countries with high rates of Nutritious meals provided at school are also essential to ensure HIV/AIDS. In these countries, higher access to education means the required micronutrient intake for children, who are still that the young men and women of the future are much more developing their physical and cognitive capacity. In many likely to adopt responsible behaviours. In countries with high countries where we work, even when some food is provided at rates of early pregnancies, benefits are also multiplied. By home, school feeding represents the main source of essential keeping young girls at school for longer, they will have children vitamins and minerals. a bit later in life and they will be more educated. It is proven that more educated and mature mothers are much more capable in

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When food distributed at school is produced and procured organisation in a very good position to be that link between NGO locally, it also represents an incentive for small farmholders. programmes, at the community level, and government work at a Good school feeding programmes are included in broader central level. Other organisations have different types of packages of school-based interventions to improve children’s comparative advantages. For example, NGOs implement food health, like systematic deworming, provision of safe water and assistance projects but also work in other sectors. They are firmly sanitation facilities, fuel-efficient stoves programmes, malaria rooted in community work and can provide a precious prevention, psychosocial support and so on. When properly contribution to integrate school feeding programmes with integrated with other programmes, school feeding contributes to complementary, community-based interventions that create developing schools as a platform for community development. mutually reinforcing benefits. They are also well placed to conduct capacity development with local administrations. Other

UN agencies, like UNICEF, can help the integration of school 2. The School Feeding Programmes or similar have been also feeding into education and nutrition policies. They also have, like implemented by other NGOs or Organisations. How is WFP the World Bank, a stronger capacity in policy dialogue with different? central governments. Ultimately, all these capacities are needed and required, and we will succeed only if we manage to integrate Every organisation is different and every organisation is needed. our comparative strengths. There are 66 million school-age children in the world that go to school hungry. An additional 72 million school-age children are 3. With respect to the actual policy brought forward by WFP in not at all in school. WFP's vision is a world where hunger is no school feeding projects, what type of developments and changes longer an obstacle to children’s human development. To make this did you notice in the past few years? Therefore, which changes vision a reality, global efforts and partnerships are needed to can you point out in WFP's 'modus operandi' concerning school support national governments in increasing the coverage, quality feeding? and sustainability of school feeding programmes. WFP's comparative advantage lies first of all in our very extensive First of all, the new policy has resulted from a review of our experience in school feeding. We reach about 22 million children experience in school feeding over the last 45 years. Good practices around the world and we have been implementing school feeding have been identified and have been adopted as 'quality standards' programmes for 45 years. From this experience we have learned that every school feeding progamme should meet. Therefore, many lessons on what approaches work better than others. WFP among what we have done we select what works and we make it also has an extremely deep field presence, which places the an explicit policy. The eight standards of quality are:

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building national capacity, are compatible and conducive to that 1. The presence of a strategy for sustainability long term strategy. 2. Sound alignment with national policy frameworks 3. Stable funding and budgeting 4. In the transitional process why is the government's role 4. Needs-based, cost-effective quality programme design fundamental? What type of difficulty is faced in building a 5. Strong institutional arrangements for implementation, relationship with them? monitoring and accountability Ultimately, national governments need to own, manage, 6. Strategies for local production and sourcing implement, and fund their own school feeding programmes. 7. Strong partnership and inter-sector coordination Engaging with the government at early stages ensures that school 8. Strong community participation and ownership feeding programmes are consistent and coherent with national

development policies and strategies, with education sector plans One other new thing is that the policy recognises school feeding as and nutrition strategies, and with social protection frameworks. a powerful safety net with multiple benefits. Until a few years ago, Depending on the context, different modalities may be more or school feeding in WFP used to be called 'Food for Education', less appropriate. Modalities include a cooked meal in schools, underlying that the main benefits were an educational outcome. biscuits or snacks multi-fortified with vitamins and minerals, take- We have now explicitly broadened the scope of the potential home rations or a combination of some of the above. The most benefits of school feeding to also include nutrition, gender, value appropriate modality depends on many factors, including the transfer and community development outcomes. duration of the school day, the specific objectives of school Finally, the new policy stresses the role of Government ownership feeding in each country, the capacity to procure and process food and transition from the start. Even in situations where WFP locally and to some extent, the security situation, the availability implements its projects directly and even in situations where there of food at home, the level of micronutrient deficiencies in country is not a national school feeding programme managed and among school age children, and many other factors that are implemented by the national government, we try to work from the context specific. start on a strategy for long-term sustainability. Essentially, in For successful transitions, school feeding needs to be embedded in dialogue with the government, we ask, where do you national policies and in the country's legislative framework. There (government) wish to be in 5, or 10, or 20 years time in terms of needs to be clear structures responsible for the oversight, school feeding? What should a national school feeding programme implementation and monitoring of the programme. For stable look like? And what work needs to be done to get there? And then funding, an essential precondition is the inclusion of school we try and design and implement programmes that, alongside

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feeding in national budgets with a dedicated budget line. The minerals), which is not always the case in our programmes. How division of responsibility between central and local levels also to increase micronutrient content (and therefore enhance the needs to be clear and functional and the capacity of the respective impact of the programme) while maintaining sustainability is not governments' bodies needs to be in place. Finally, there needs to as easy as it may seem: many countries do not have the local be a strong institutional capacity and clear mechanisms and capacity to produce and process multi-fortified food and to enrich responsibilities for food procurement, logistics, monitoring and normal food, with additional vitamins and minerals. Food quality control. Schools also need to be properly equipped and the imported from outside is more expensive and makes for a less role of school staff, communities, parents and teacher’s sustainable programme. Ultimately, for sustainable school feeding associations and local authorities should also be clear. as much food as possible should be produced and/or processed These systems are not designed or established overnight, and within the national borders of the country. Developing modalities require years of work to understand the specific role that school to fully reconcile these different aspects will take more research, feeding can play within the country's development agenda, the experience, and eventually time. most appropriate model, and the most appropriate mechanisms. Another example is the capacity development work with national Establishing policies, laws, strategies require time and internal governments: WFP is traditionally a very operational agency, the buy-in. Defining budget lines and developing internal institutional first one in the field after an emergency and the one with the and operational capacity also requires time. The earlier a deepest field presence. Other organisations are instead stronger on government is, not only engaged, but in the lead of this process, policy dialogue with national governments, which requires the smoother, more effective and faster the transition. institutional capacity and resources. The question is: how do we improve our capacity to engage in strategic policy discussions 5. With respect to your predecessors, which objectives are with national governments while maintaining our operational implemented in managing the department? strength? To what extent do we need to build our internal capacity and how much can we just improve our coordination and When I joined the school feeding unit shortly before the approval cooperation with other organisations like the World Bank or of the new policy, my main task was to understand and provide UNICEF? guidance to country offices on how to translate this policy into These are all practical issues that we are now facing in the practice. For example, a specific nutrition outcome is a new thing application at field level concerning the new approach. My core for WFP. School feeding can reduce micronutrient deficiencies function is to ensure that WFP Country Offices have the technical among school age children, but to do so the food ration needs to support required to design, implement, and monitor sound and provide a very high level of micronutrients (vitamins and effective programmes. We do that by developing Programme

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Guidance (manuals and guidelines that are accessible to all WFP 'Transition' indicates a process where responsibility is gradually staff), by providing ad-hoc technical support to Country Offices transferred from WFP to the Government, to ensure that sufficient (COs) on specific issues, and by implementing field missions. We capacity is in place to ensure quality and sustainability of the basically develop and provide the 'how to' of the global strategy. programme after WFP's departure. The main difficulties are related to a Government's budget, 6. Which are the major difficulties that are met in bringing to an because these countries have stretched budgets. School feeding is end a school feeding project? a long term investment, that eventually produces significant benefits also in terms of Government resources: more educated The objective is not for school feeding programmes to end but to and healthier children will become more productive adults, with a transition them into national programmes. Every country in the healthier life, that are going to rely less on government social world has a mechanism - or wishes to establish a mechanism - to support and are better able to support others in a more provide food in school to school children. In the wealthier disadvantaged position. However, in the short term, it represents a countries in Europe or North America, where parents can afford it, cost, and with stretched resources it is difficult to allocate them. school fees may include the cost of the school lunch, and parents That is why, as a part of what we are doing, we also place a lot of may provide children with a mid-morning snack that they bring emphasis and work on the design of programmes that are from home. Even in many western countries, school lunches are affordable - an affordable investment. After all, children may often subsidised, at least for children coming from lower-income represent 20% of today's population, but they are 100% of our families. In poorer countries the state contribution needs to be future. higher, and the parents and community contribution may be provided in different ways, for example by either providing firewood for the school kitchen or contributing to cooking and to the management of the programme. Paradoxically, those countries with lower education indicators, low nutrition indicators and higher levels of poverty, where school feeding is most needed, are those with a lower coverage. That is why we do not talk anymore about 'exit strategies' which could give the idea of a project that begins and ends, we talk less about 'handover', which signals a moment in time when the programmes changed hands from WFP to national governments.

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7.4 Interview with Mr. Carlo Scaramella, El Salvador’s ex- a national programme is already for large part managed by Country Director national entities that allowed this to happen in a smoother manner.

2. What are the “lessons learned” that came out during your 1. In one’s capacity as El Salvador’s ex-Country Director, how mandate in relation to the transitional process carried out in El would you explain the outcome of the school feeding handover Salvador? process in El Salvador? Why? Most important lesson is that, we as WFP need to be able to If you look at our experience in El Salvador, there are different recognise strategically when to phase out and when, in fact, there factors that contributed to the successful handover. 1. We have is a readiness on the other side to take over. We need to support reached a level of development of the programme that had already these processes of taking over on the side of the government and achieved ownership by the government and the state of El reposition the role of WFP as a quality control and advisory Salvador. The handover had reached its final phase and we only organisation in relation to the implementation of the programme, had to finalise a process that had already been ongoing for some rather than as an implementer. So, the main lesson is that, we as time. 2. There was a great sense of ownership by the government WFP need to be able to understand that there may be opportunities than by the state and recognition of the strategic input and school for us to phase out, from the operational side to building national feeding programme for the state as a programme for social ownership, and when we recognise those opportunities, we need promotion of national unity, and of integration of social support. to be fast in taking them on and pushing these processes forward. This meant that globally within the country there was a strong sort of understanding that this was in general terms one of the most 3. What would you say were the greatest difficulties that you important social support activities of the country, and it made encountered during your mandate in El Salvador? sense for the country to take full ownership of it. 3. There were resources available for the country to do that, in the sense that El In general, I think perhaps the most complex thing was to try to Salvador had reached a level of budgetary self sustainability that reposition and re-profile the role of WFP, not being just an allowed the country to take over, to become independent in terms organisation that provides and delivers food aid, but also as an of funding its own school feeding activities. organisation that intervenes and interfaces with governments and Therefore, the concurrence of the three factors: natural, ownership other actors at a policy level, at a strategic level, and so on. I think resources, as well as the actual development of the programme as the most challenging aspect was exactly to lift/elevate the level

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and profile of WFP in the public domain and build a different NGOs in El Salvador worked a lot in rural development and perception of the organisation by government authorities. activities related to development. In general, I think that there was a very good relationship. 4. How would you describe the relations with the Government of El Salvador? 6. How would you define the current situation that El Salvador is

going through now? I think those were very good because we were able to mutually benefit from this relationship. The Government of El Salvador I think El Salvador is going well politically. El Salvador is going relied on WFP on many issues, from, for instance, being the first through a change because for the first time in history there is a respondent in situations of emergencies to being a strong ally left-party government that is running the country and has been when negotiating issues, and also, when promoting the role of El running the country for the last two years. That in itself is a Salvador in many eyes. On the other hand, because they dramatic change for this very small country, because it implies a recognised us as a strategic partner, we were able to ask them to huge challenge in reshaping society. The El Salvadorian society, do things, for instance, taking over the programme but also like many other Latin American societies, is fragmented, and it is investing in their regional humanitarian hub in El Salvador, which vertically divided into the rich and the poor, the whites and the the government did and, agreeing on a number of new activities indigenous, and so on. Therefore, having a left-party government and initiatives and funding the improvement of the quality of the in charge is a challenge and is, in fact, a way of redirecting programme itself, and so on. I think we both saw a positive win- history. At the same time, it was a big challenge for the win aspect out of the relationship and that explains why it worked government, because the left-party government was not prepared well. and did not have the capacity to take on the responsibilities of

running a country. Therefore, it has been, I think, a challenge for 5. How were the liaisons/relationships with the NGOs in El the government to establish themselves, takeover, and start to Salvador? Their role is key to the distribution of humanitarian aid manage the country. and of food. To which NGOs were you associated with?

We are associated with a number of NGOs. The traditional US NGOs, such as CRS and CARE and also PLAN, as well as other NGOs, including Spanish NGOs, which were present in the country, and so on. Therefore, a variety of actors and WFP were particularly coordinated in the area of disaster response. But

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7. As El Salvador’s ex-country director, which are the major 7.5 Interview with Mr. Marco Selva, Private difficulties that are met in bringing to an end a school feeding Partnerships Manager. Communication, Public Policy and Private Partnerships Division project?

The project is not being brought to an end. The project is actually 1. WFP is an agency exclusively financed on a voluntary basis being brought to full sustainability because, by handing over the either by government contributions or by the private sector. On project to the government, and in a manner that underlines the the basis of your previous work, how would you define the strategic importance of this programme for both educational and relationship between WFP and the Italian Government? Which nutritional purposes among the population of El Salvador, is a measures has the Italian Government used to sustain WFP great achievement. It is in fact a mission achieved on the side of operations worldwide in the past and the present? WFP and it is a way to ensure its sustainability. It would have

been much more fragile if the project continued to stay within As you said, WFP is funded exclusively on a voluntary basis. It WFP and continued to depend on donor funding. Now that the means that at the beginning of the year our budget is equal to zero project has become part of the national budget it has been totally and WFP receives contributions based on the projects that WFP is internalised. I think we have achieved our objective. able to carry out in the field. This is the way we can then solicit funding from the government/s, and/or the private sector. In

general terms, you have the largest humanitarian organization,

WFP, which is well funded. Therefore, there is an enormous trust

from the donors and donor communities with regards to the job

that WFP does on the ground. This trust is definitely high within

the Italian Government. The relationship between WFP and the

Italian Government is going very well, we have our headquarters

here in Rome and we belong to the so-called Rome-Based UN

Agencies. Therefore, this is a very important element that the

government of Italy brings to the international community.

Moreover, it is an important input that the Italian Government

brings to international development. Therefore, this is very high

on the agenda for the Italian Government in financing and

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developing agricultural, food security, and nutrition policies, 3. To this day, contributions from the private sector have proven which are more related to what WFP ’s mission. fundamental. Does it appear to you that the private donors are willing to partner and collaborate with WFP? 2. On the basis of which criteria do the governments annually decide on where to allocate funds? What percentage of funds WFP is relatively new in partnering with private sector and private received by WFP do they manage to cover? corporate companies. We began with our largest donor to date, TNT, in 2002. Since then we have put in place a strategy on how The first criteria would be, given the primary mandate of WFP, to to partner with the private sector. It is really meant as a both respond to emergencies and assist people that are food partnership which goes beyond philanthropy, meaning corporate insecure due to natural disaster, political situations, or for other companies will make cash donations that try to achieve synergies reasons. This criterium is basically defining the priorities indicated between the two parties. Therefore, we are looking at what the by WFP. Usually, when there is a discussion on a project, the private sector can offer to the fight against hunger worldwide and donor community is consulted from the very beginning. They what WFP can offer to the companies, stakeholders and actually accomplish a part of designing the project themselves, employees, basically a two-fold approach. One aspect looks at showing a constant interaction between what the needs of the expertise coming from the private sector. For example, we are mission on the ground are and what resources are available from partnering a lot with the food companies and we are able to the entire donor community to WFP, and to the international develop new products that are affordable and that are more community that will assist the population in need. Usually, WFP’s nutritious for the people that we are targeting, that is, people who projects are well funded, we more or less receive close to 100% of do not have access to sufficient, nutritious food. We can get access the projects. Obviously, there are some projects that are very high to a specific expertise from the food company in order to develop on the agenda because they are usually more visible, the so called new products that can meet these criteria. The other side is to CNN effect. If you see people in difficulty on TV, governments engage private donor communities and partners to create and political decision makers will also be more willing to respond awareness about the work that WFP accomplishes and the people to a certain crisis. However, where we have some difficulties in that suffer from hunger. responding to the hidden crisis, it is always very difficult to attract the attention of the political stakeholders/decision makers to fund a less visible crisis.

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4. Fill the Cup is an awareness campaign that demonstrates how Appendices little it takes to nourish a school child guaranteeing them a better

future. What is the link between private sector and school meals? UN, Provision of Food Surpluses to Food-Deficit People through the

United Nations System, United Nation General Assembly Resolution Fill the Cup is the main campaign that drives funds for school 1496 (XV), adopted on 27 October 1960 (New York: United Nations); meals. It is an outreach campaign that we aim at making it highly

visible. I think the Red Cup icon makes it very attractive to UN, World Food Programme, United Nation General Assembly everybody, specifically to the public at large with a very simple Resolution 1714 (XVI), adopted on 19 December 1961 (New York: message. We say that with only 20euro cents we can fill a cup that United Nations); provides school meals. This is, therefore, truly where the link is,

between the individual and the private companies. It sends a very UN, General Assembly Resolution 1715 (XVI) United Nation Development simple message that produces an immediate response that is easy Decade. A programme for international economic co-operation (II)”, to communicate, providing a really attractive incentive to the adopted on 19 December 1961 (New York : United Nations); private companies. UN, “Continuation of the World Food Programme, United Nation General 5. It appears that the international or Italian community is more Assembly Resolution 2095 (XX)”, adopted on 20 December 1965 (New willing to partner and collaborate with WFP. Can you explain York: United Nations); why? UN, Programme of Studies of Multilateral Food Aid”, United Nation There was an immediate response from the international private General Assembly Resolution 2096 (XX), adopted on 20 December 1965 sector because this was primarily WFP’s first target. But now we (New York: United Nations); are approaching Italian companies, as well as the Italian community who is just as responsive as the corporations. It is only UN, Multilateral Food Aid, United Nation General Assembly Resolution a matter of time, but the Italian companies will also be willing to 2462 (XXIII), adopted on 23 December 1968 (New York: United Nations); partner and collaborate with WFP. UN, World Food Conferences, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3180 (XXVIII), adopted on 25 November 1973 (New York: United Nations).

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Dramatis Personae Sushil K. Dev was WFP’s Executive Director from January to August 1968 and Associate Executive Director thereafter until his retirement in

May 1969. An Indian citizen, born in 1907, Dev studied in India and WFP Executive Directors: then at the London School of Economics. He entered the Indian Civil

Service before becoming Deputy Director of the Bureau of Social Affairs Addeke Hendrik Boerma was WFP’s first Executive Director, from May at the United Nations in New York. Dev joined the Food and Agriculture 1962 to December 1967. Boerma was born in the Netherlands in 1912, Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1957 as special assistant to graduating in horticulture and agricultural economics from the the Director-General and later became Director of FAO’s Rural Agricultural University at Wageningen in 1934. By 1938, he was a Institutions and Services Division. With the establishment of WFP, he government officer in charge of planning food supplies in the event of was appointed as Director of its Programme Development and Appraisal war. During World War II, Boerma was smuggled out of enemy- Division and played a major part in the formulation of WFP’s policies occupied Holland by British agents and flown to London to help plan and programmes. food relief supplies for the Netherlands. He became one of the commissioners responsible for overseeing the reconstruction of the Francisco Aquino was WFP Executive Director from July 1968 to May Dutch agricultural economy after the war. By 1945, he was Acting 1976. Born in El Salvador in 1919, Aquino studied agronomy in his Director-General for food for the Netherlands, government native country and later economics at Harvard University. He was chief commissioner for Foreign Agricultural Relations and Netherlands of the Grains Section of the Commodities and Trade Division at the Food representative on the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, of the United Nations (FAO). He joined the staff of FAO in 1948 and, Italy in the 1950s before returning to El Salvador where he served as until 1951, was Regional Representative for Europe based in Rome. In minister of agriculture and president of the Central Reserve Bank, and 1951, when the headquarters of FAO moved to Rome from Washington, was his country’s representative on the governing bodies of the DC, Boerma became Director of its Economics Division. In 1958, he International Monetary Fund and various international banks. was made Head of FAO’s Program and Budget Service and in 1960 was Before assuming the post of Executive Director, he was technical promoted to Assistant Director-General. He was elected as FAO’s manager at the Inter American Development Bank in Washington, DC. Director-General in 1967. For his services during and after the war, He stood unsuccessfully for the post of FAO Director-General in the Boerma was made a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion, the highest election of 1975 and resigned in May 1976. civil order in the Netherlands, a Commander in the Order of Leopold II Thomas C.M. Robinson was WFP Executive Director from May 1976 to of Belgium and Officer du Merit Agricole of France. September 1977. Born in the United States in 1912, Robinson studied agricultural economics and statistics before holding a number of posts in

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the US foreign service in Washington DC and abroad. In the early 1960s, 1959-1962. He was Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1963 and to the before joining WFP as director of its Resources Management Division United States until December 1968. Yriat, who signed the founding from September 1962 to March 1969, he was head of the Foodstuffs constitution of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Division of the US State Department where he represented his country at Nations (FAO) on behalf of his country, was appointed as the same meetings of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organisation’s Assistant Director-General for Latin America in 1968 as (FAO) and other international bodies. well as FAO Regional Representative for Latin America in Santiago, Garson N. Vogel was WFP Executive Director from October 1977 to his Chile. In 1972, he became Assistant Director-General of FAO’s death in April 1981. Born in Canada in 1918, Vogel studied history and Development Department, and in 1980, Special Assistant to the Director- economics and later, law, and was called to the Manitoba Bar after the General of FAO, for whom he undertook a number of high policy Second World War. Following a career in the grain trade, he joined the missions. He retired in February 1984. Canadian Wheat Board in 1964 and became chief commissioner before joining WFP. James C. Ingram was WFP Executive Director for two terms of office from April 1982 to his retirement in April 1992. Ingram, an Australian Bernado de Azevedo Brito was WFP Executive Director from May 1981 citizen born in 1928, studied economics and political science at to his resignation in February 1982, and Deputy Executive Director from Melbourne University before starting a career in the Australian foreign January 1979 to May 1981.A Brazilian citizen, born in 1935, de Azevedo service. He served as an Australian representative to the European Brito trained as a diplomat and served in his country’s embassies in Economic Community (EEC), Indonesia and the United Nations before Denmark, Norway and Spain prior to heading the economic section of being appointed as Assistant Secretary of the ministry’s Asian and the Brazilian mission to the United Nations in New York and Pacific department. Appointed ambassador to the Philippines (1970-73), representing Brazil on the United Nations Development Programme high commissioner to Canada and several Caribbean states (1973-74) Council (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). and director-general of the Australian Development Assistance Bureau From 1975, he was head of the Brazilian permanent mission to the Food (1975-82), during which he served as Australia’s alternate governor of and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the International Fund represented Brazil on the governing bodies of FAO and WFP. for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Australian representative at Juan Felipe Yriat was WFP Executive Director from February to April high level meetings of the Development Assistance Committee of the 1982. Born in Uruguay in 1919, Yriat attended Law School at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a University of Montevideo. As a career diplomat, Yriat held senior member of the Australian National Commission for the United Nations positions in his country’s embassies in Sweden and Finland and was Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and a Director-General of the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs from member of the North-South Round Table and of the Tidewater Group.

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Ingram was the first Australian to head a United Nations body and, at the James T. Morris served as the tenth Executive Director of the United time of his appointment as WFP Executive Director, received Australia’s Nations World Food Programme from April 2002 to April 2007. In July highest civil honour for his services to his country. He received the Alan 2002, Mr Morris was appointed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award for his work as WFP Executive Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa, a region Director and served on the governing body of the International Food which continues to be gripped by a major food emergency. In 2003, he Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Upon his retirement, he became successfully guided WFP in carrying out the largest humanitarian director of the Australian Institute for International Affairs and has operation in history, feeding 26 million Iraqis. Prior to leading WFP, Mr written on arrangements for the provision of international humanitarian Morris combined a distinguished career of business, philanthropic and assistance. humanitarian leadership with a personal life of public service. Both his career and his voluntary activities have always reflected a commitment Catherine Bertini served as Executive Director from 1992 to 2002. to improving the lives of others with a special interest in young people at At the time of her appointment, Ms. Bertini was the first American risk and giving something back to his city, his country and the woman to head a UN organisation. Re-appointed for a second five-year international community. After serving six years in city government in term in 1997, she oversaw WFP's emergence as the world's largest food Indianapolis, Indiana, primarily as chief of staff for mayor Richard aid organisation. After taking up office in April 1992, Ms. Bertini Lugar, Mr Morris moved to the Lilly Endowment, Inc. in 1973. He ushered in a new era at WFP. Under her direction, the Agency moved began as director of community development for the Endowment, one of away from simply providing food aid and instead, focused on women as the world’s largest charitable foundations. Mr Morris moved to vice the most effective means of ensuring fair food distribution. Bertini's president, executive vice president and then president, and served in that reasoning for the shift was simple, but critical. In almost all poor role for six years until 1989. His principal interests have been in building societies, it is women who grow, prepare and serve food to their families. communities, serving vulnerable children at risk and leadership When food aid is provided as part of the larger scheme to educate and development. train women, they are often able to lead their families out of Mr Morris then became chairman and chief executive officer of IWC poverty. Over 80 percent of WFP Country Offices now organise women Resources Corporation and Indianapolis Water Company. Under his into food aid committees to identify and help beneficiaries. In March leadership, IWC grew to a multi-million dollar holding company. He 2000, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan named Bertini as his Special focused on employee development through recognition programs, Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Her subsequent mission to the drought-hit diversification, human relations and educational opportunities. The region helped avert the risk of famine. Ms. Bertini stepped down at the company experienced substantial growth in both regulated and beginning of April 2002, when her second term expired to make way for unregulated areas. While serving in these leadership roles and on several James T.Morris. corporate boards, Mr Morris was affiliated with the United States

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Olympic Committee as treasurer and as chairman of the audit and ethics Acknowledgements committee, was chairman of the NCAA Foundation, was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, and was chairman I feel that I should conclude this dissertation with a moment of intimate of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University. He has contributed time reflection. and guidance to many civic and community organizations. These pages are the result of a very unique path that has, for me,

reached a very important milestone in my life. Many components have rendered it as such: changes in direction and life choices, growth and professional training, difficulties, satisfaction and joy, doubts and fear, but overall a great desire to become involved. The academic and professional work reflected in this paper encompasses strong cooperation and a mutual effort. These are pages that, with their imperfections, conceal their pride when being discussed. I would like to thank Professor Carla Meneguzzi for her humanity, which goes beyond her expertise. Thank you for giving me the possibility for expressing what I wrote and for being by my side, providing me with the valuable tools, not only within an academic environment, but also in my life. I thank the Italian Committee for the World Food Programme (WFP), and in particular, “my guides”, for placing confidence in me and for giving me the opportunity to express myself. Therefore, I thank Catherine and Francesco, from which I learn everyday, politically, operationally and critically, in order to meet the challenges that each day carries. I am grateful to the WFP for showing me a world that needs our commitment and our transparent professionalism. Thanks to Ramiro Armando de Oliveira Lopes da Silva, Amir Mahmoud Abdulla, Ilaria Dettori, Marco Selva and Carlo Scaramella for having

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contributed to dissolve any doubts and concerns through their Ringraziamenti interviews. I thank them for their attention and sensitivity they showed.

Thank you to Catherine Loria, my precious support. Questo elaborato non può che concludersi con un mio momento di I thank all of those who have been by my side, sharing with me the intima riflessione. satisfactions achieved and supporting me through times of difficulty. Queste pagine rappresentano il risultato di un percorso unico, di un Therefore, thanks to Riccardo, Silvia and Marianna, my eternal ciclo che in questo momento raggiunge una tappa importante. confidants. Più ingredienti lo hanno reso tale: cambiamenti di rotta e scelte di vita, Thank you, Antonio, who, like a ray of sunshine, came into my life. crescita e formazione professionale, difficoltà, soddisfazioni e gioie, A very special thank to Cristina, a little angel that I met along the way. dubbi e paure, ma soprattutto una gran voglia di mettermi in gioco. Lastly, my deepest appreciation can only be addressed to my family: Il percorso accademico, professionale e lavorativo trovano in questo to Lucio and the force that comes over me when I hug him, scritto una sintesi, una simbiosi. to Gabriele, and his smile that fills my heart with joy, Sono pagine che, nella loro imperfezione, celano dietro di loro to Giulia, unique and irreplaceable, l’orgoglio di essere discusse e raccontate. to Paola, my point of reference, Ringrazio la Prof.ssa Carla Meneguzzi per la sua umanità oltre che to my Parents, and the immense love that I feel for them. grande professionalità. La ringrazio per avermi dato la possibilità di dar voce a quanto scritto, per essere stata al mio fianco, fornendomi strumenti preziosi non solo in ambito accademico ma anche di vita. Ringrazio il Comitato Italiano per il Programma Alimentare Mondiale (WFP) ed in particolare “le mie guide” per aver riposto in me fiducia,

per avermi dato la possibilità di esprimermi.

Ringrazio, quindi, Catherine e Francesco, dai quali cerco di apprendere, giorno dopo giorno, senso politico, operativo e critico, per poter essere all’altezza delle sfide che ogni giorno ci poniamo. Ringrazio il WFP per avermi mostrato un mondo che necessita del nostro impegno e della nostra trasparente professionalità.

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Grazie a Ramiro Armando de Oliveira Lopes da Silva, Amir Mahmoud Bibliography Abdulla, Ilaria Dettori, Marco Selva e Carlo Scaramella, per aver contribuito, attraverso i loro interventi a sciogliere dubbi e criticità. Li ringrazio per l’attenzione e sensibilità dimostrata. Books, Reports, Papers: Grazie a Catherine Loria, mio prezioso supporto. BERTRAND, M., Report on Personnel Problems in the World Food Ringrazio tutti coloro che sono stati al mio fianco, gioendo con me per le Programme, United Nation Joint Inspection Unit, Geneva, 1984; soddisfazioni raggiunte e sostenendomi nei momenti di difficoltà. Grazie quindi a Riccardo, Silvia e Marianna, mie eterne certezze. CHARLTON, M.W., Innovation and Inter-Organizational Politics: The Ringrazio Antonio, che come un raggio di sole è entrato nella mia vita. Case of the World Food Programme, International Journal, vol. XLVII, Un grazie speciale a Cristina, un piccolo angelo incontrato nel mio Summer, 1992; cammino. Ma il mio ultimo pensiero non può che essere rivolto alla mia famiglia: CLAY, E. and SHAW J., Poverty, Development, and Food: Essays in th al piccolo Lucio e alla forza che abbracciandolo mi pervade, Honour of H. W. Singer on his 75 Birthday, Macmillan, Basingstoke, a Gabriele e al suo sorriso, in grado di riempirmi il cuore di gioia, 1987; a Giulia, unica ed insostituibile, a Paola, mio punto di riferimento, CLAY, E. and SINGER H.W., Food Aid and Development: Issues and ai miei Genitori e all’amore immenso che provo per loro. Evidence. A Survey of the literature since 1977 on the role and impact of Food Aid in Developing Countries, WFP Occasional Paper No.3, World Food Programme, Rome, 1985;

DAWSON, A., Food For Development: The World Food Programme, International Labour Review, vol. XC, No.2, 1964;

EPSTEIN, S.B., Food For Peace, 1954-1986: Major Changes in Legislation, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress,

Washington, DC, 1987;

FAO, Disposal of Agricultural Surpluses. Principles Recommended by the FAO, FAO, Rome, 1954

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FAO, Expanded Programme of surplus food Utilization, Report by the SEN, S.R., Impact and implications of Foreign Surplus Disposal on Expert Group to the Director General of FAO, in Development through Underdeveloped Economies- The Indian Perspective, Journal of farm Food: A strategy for Surplus Utilization, FFHC Basic Study No.2, FAO, Economies, vol. XLII, 1960; Rome, 1961; SHAW, D.J., The World Food Programme and Emergency Relief, FAO, World Food Programme, Background Papers No.17, FAO, Rome, Advanced Development Management Programme Series No.20, Institute 1963; of Comparative Culture, Sophia University, Tokyo, 1996;

GURUGE, A., School Feeding Programmes as a Potential Source of SHAW, D.J., The World Food Programme and the Development of Food Learning, UNESCO and UNICEF, Paris and New Delhi, 1983; Aid, Palgrave MacMillan, London, 2001;

HAMBRIDGE, G., The FAO Story, Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1955; SHAW D.J., World Food Security. A History since 1945, Palgrave McMillan, New York, 2007; INGRAM J., Bread and Stones. Leadership and the Struggle to Reform the United Nations World Food Programme, BookSurge, North UN, Charter of the United Nations, United Nation, New York, 1945; Charlestone, South Carolina, USA, 2006; UN, Basic Facts about the United Nations, Department of Public McGOVERN, G., Grassroots. The Autobiography of George Mc Information, New York, 1989; Govern, Random House, New York, 1977; UN, Provision of Food Surpluses to Food-Deficit People through the McGOVERN, G., The third freedom. Ending hunger in Our Time, United Nations System, United Nation General Assembly Resolution Simon&Schuster, New York, 2001; 1496 (XV), adopted on 27 October 1960 (New York: United Nations);

RUTTAN, V.W., Why Food Aid?, The John Hopkins University Press, UN, World Food Programme, United Nation General Assembly 1993; Resolution 1714 (XVI), adopted on 19 December 1961 (New York: United Nations); SEN, A., Development as Freedom, Alfred A. Knopf, 1999; UN, United Nation Development Decade. A Programme for international economic cooperation, United Nation General Assembly

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Resolution 1715 (XVI), adopted on 19 December 1961 (New York: WFP Documents and Publications (Rome: WFP): United Nations); WFP, Annual Report 2008;

UN, Continuation of the World Food Programme, United Nation WFP, Annual Report 2009; General Assembly Resolution 2095 (XX), adopted on 20 December 1965 (New York: United Nations); WFP, Annual Report 2010;

UN, Programme of Studies of Multilateral Food Aid, United Nation WFP, Home Grown School Feeding: a Framework for Action, 2009; General Assembly Resolution 2096 (XX), adopted on 20 December 1965 (New York: United Nations); WFP, Learning from Experience. Good practices from 45 years of

School Feeding, 2009; UN, Multilateral Food Aid, United Nation General Assembly Resolution

2462 (XXIII), adopted on 23 December 1968 (New York: United WFP, Rethinking School Feeding. Social Safety Nets, Child Nations); Development, and Education Sector, 2009;

UN, World Food Conferences, United Nation General Assembly WFP, School Feeding. Background on New Directions, 23 March 2010; Resolution 3180 (XXVIII), adopted on 25 November 1973 (New York:

United Nations); WFP, Strategic Plan 2008 – 2011;

UN, The Millennium Development Goals, Report 2009, December 2009 WFP, The essential package, 2005; (New York: United Nation);

WFP, Report on past WFP emergency operations, Third Session of UNESCO, Workshop on School Feeding and Education, Sri Intergovernmental Committee, May, 1963; Avinashilingam Home Science College for Women, Coimbatore, India,

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