World Food Programme
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World Food Programme The World Food Programme[a] (WFP) is the food-assistance World Food Programme branch of the United Nations and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.[1] According to the WFP, it provides food assistance to an average of 91.4 million people in 83 countries each year.[2] From its headquarters in Rome and from more than 80 country offices around the world, the WFP works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its executive committee.[3] Contents Overview Goals and strategies Funding The World Food Programme logo Organization Abbreviation WFP Logistics Cluster Formation 19 December 1961 Activities Type Intergovernmental Emergency Response Classifications Current Level 3 emergencies organization, Regulatory body, Official partnerships and initiatives Advisory board Grassroots efforts Legal status Active World Hunger Relief Week World Food Program USA Headquarters Rome, Italy Head David Beasley Criticism Parent United Nations List of executive directors organization General Assembly See also Website www.wfp.org (http:// Notes www1.wfp.org) Footnotes Politics portal References External links Overview WFP was established in 1961[4] after the 1960 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference, when George McGovern, director of the US Food for Peace Programmes, proposed establishing a multilateral food aid programme. The WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly on a three-year experimental basis. In 1965, the programme was extended to a continuing basis. Goals and strategies The WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself. The objectives that the WFP hopes to achieve are to:[5] WFP Headquarters in Rome 1. "Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies" 2. "Support food security and nutrition and (re)build livelihoods in fragile settings and following emergencies" 3. "Reduce risk and enable people, communities and countries to meet their own food and nutrition needs" 4. "Reduce under-nutrition and break the inter- generational cycle of hunger" A WFP armoured vehicle. 5. "Zero Hunger in 2030" WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS. Food- for-work programmes help promote environmental and economic stability and agricultural production. Funding The WFP operations are funded by voluntary donations from governments of the world, corporations and private donors. The organization's administrative costs are only six and half percent—one of the lowest and best among aid agencies. From 2008-2012, private voluntary donors donated around $500 million. In 2016, WFP received from donors in total US$5,933,529,247. The USA was the major donor of WFP with 2 billion US$, followed by the European Commission (894 million US$) and Germany (884 million US$).[6] Organization The WFP is governed by an executive board which consists of representatives from 36 member states. David Beasley, from South Carolina, United States, is the current executive director, appointed jointly by the UN Secretary General and the director-general of the FAO for a five-year term. He heads the secretariat of the WFP. The European Union is a permanent observer in the WFP and, as a major donor, participates in the work of its executive board.[7] Its vision is a "world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life." The WFP has a staff of about 18,555 people,[8] the majority of whom work in remote areas. Logistics Cluster The Logistics Cluster[9] is an Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) humanitarian coordination mechanism whose primary role is supporting emergency responses. One of eleven sectoral coordination bodies, it was set by UN General Assembly resolution 46/182 in December 1991 and extended in the Humanitarian Reform of 2005, with new elements adopted to improve capacity, predictability, accountability, leadership and partnership. The Logistics Cluster provides coordination and information management services to support operational decision-making and improve the predictability, timeliness and efficiency of humanitarian emergency responses. Where necessary, the Logistics Cluster also facilitates access to common logistics services. Due to its expertise in the field of humanitarian logistics, the World Food Programme (WFP) was chosen by the IASC as the lead agency for the Logistics Cluster. WFP hosts the Global Logistics Cluster support team in its headquarters in Rome. WFP also acts as a David Beasley, executive ‘provider of last resort’ offering common logistics services, when critical director of the World gaps hamper the humanitarian response.[10] Food Programme Activities In 2013, the WFP reached 80.9 million people in 75 countries and provided 3.1 million tonnes of food,[11] including nutritionally enriched Ready-to-use therapeutic foods.[12] 7.8 million malnourished children received special nutritional support in 2013, and 18.6 million children received school meals or take- home rations. In 2015, the WFP reached 76.7 million people in 81 countries. In emergencies, more than 50 million people were reached in order United Nations C-130 Hercules transports deliver food for the to improve their nutrition and food security. School meals were Rumbek region of southern Sudan provided to 17.4 million children helping retain children in (2004). schools, supporting uninterrupted access to education.[13] The WFP has scaled up its use of cash and vouchers as food assistance tools. 7.9 million people received assistance through cash or voucher programmes in 2013. In the same year, the WFP purchased food in 91 countries; 86% of that food came from developing countries.[14] In 2017 WTF launched the Building Blocks Program that aims to help distribute money-for-food assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan. The project adopts the blockchain to digitize identities and allow refugees to receive food with eye scanning.[15] Among its other activities, the WFP has coordinated the five-year Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot project. Launched in September 2008, P4P assists smallholder farmers by offering them opportunities to access agricultural markets and to become competitive players in the marketplace. The project spanned across 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and trained 800,000 farmers in improved agricultural production, post- harvest handling, quality assurance, group marketing, agricultural The WFP unloads humanitarian aid finance and contracting with the WFP. The project resulted in at the Freeport of Monrovia during Joint Task Force Liberia. 366,000 metric tons of food produced and generated more than $148 million in income for its smallholder farmers.[16] The WFP focuses its food assistance on those who are most vulnerable to hunger, which most frequently means women, children, the sick and the elderly. In fact, part of the response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake consisted of distributing food aid only to women as experience built up over almost 5 decades of working in emergency situations has demonstrated that giving food only to women helps to ensure that it is spread evenly among all household members. School-feeding and/or take-home ration programmes in 71 countries help students focus on their studies and encourage parents to send their children, especially girls, to school.[17] Emergency Response Classifications The WFP has a system of classifications known as the Emergency Response Classifications designated toward situations that require immediate response. This response is activated under the following criteria: 1. When human suffering in which domestic governments do or can not respond to adequately 2. The United Nations reputation is under scrutiny 3. When there is an obvious need for aid from the WFP The Emergency Response Classifications are divided as follows, with emergency intensity increasing with each level:[18] Level 1 – Response is activated. Resources are allocated to prepare for the WFP's local office to respond Level 2 – A country's resources require regional assistance with an emergency across one or multiple countries/territories Level 3 – The emergency overpowers the WFP's local offices and requires a global response from the entire WFP organization Current Level 3 emergencies Listed countries are currently classified as Level 3:[19] Iraq (Level 3) Nigeria (Level 3) South Sudan (Level 3) Syria (Level 3) Yemen (Level 3) Official partnerships and initiatives The WFP coordinates and cooperates with a number of official partners in emergencies and development projects. These partners include national government agencies such as DFID, ECHO, EuropeAid, USAID; UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); non-governmental organizations such as Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and Norwegian Refugee Council; as well as corporate partners such as Boston Consulting Group, DSM N.V. (http://www.dsm.com), and Cargill.[20] Grassroots efforts In 2004, the WFP tasked Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama with heading the first student-led War on Hunger effort, after a 2002 Northwestern University pilot. Auburn founded the Committee of 19, which has not only led campus and community hunger awareness events but also developed a War on Hunger model for use on campuses across the country. The WFP has launched a global advocacy and fundraising event called Walk the World. On one single day each year, hundreds of thousands of people in every time zone all over the world walk to call for the end of child hunger. In 2005, more than 200,000 people walked in 296 locations. In 2006, there were 760,000 participants in 118 countries all over the world. This event is part of the campaign to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, specifically to halve the number of people who suffer from hunger and poverty by 2015.