MONTREAL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE BACKGROUND GUIDE World Food Program 1 LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Dear Delegates, Welcome to the World Food Programme! My name is Kareem Faraj and it is my honor to be chairing this committee. I am currently majoring in Political Science at McGill University with a minor in History. By the time MUNC 2020 rolls around, I will have spent 6 years on the Model United Nations circuit and have had the pleasure of occupying positions ranging from that of committee page all the way to that of Secretary General across a variety of conferences around the island of Montreal and beyond. I would also like to take this occasion to welcome you to MUNC 2020, which, to this day, holds a very special place in my heart. Current events may have forced the conference online, but I remain convinced that this year’s conference will continue to grow and improve on its previous iterations. While I am disappointed that I will not be able to meet and interact with you in person during committee, I have no doubt that this new format will offer new opportunities for the entire MUN community. Past MUNCs have provided me with the opportunity to make lasting memories and friendships over the years. I hope your experience at MUNC will be just as educational and enjoyable as mine was. As the chair of a Blue Division committee, it is my wish that this committee be as accessible and inclusive as possible for all delegates, regardless of prior MUN experience. The move to an online platform will a new experience for many, including myself. I understand that such a change can be intimidating and promise that I will do my utmost to make this transition as seamless as possible. I invite you to raise any questions or any fears you might have to my assistant chairs or to myself at any time before or during the simulation. We are here to help you. Humankind has a long history with hunger. It is an incredibly complex subject that sadly continues to have very real implications for many people around the world. The global pandemic has not only demonstrated how interconnected the world of today truly is, it has revealed how fragile the global economy and global food system can be. Although multilateral organizations, such as those of the UN system are currently facing increased challenges in the 21st century, I remain convinced of the continued place of food aid as a cornerstone of the humanitarian world. In these trying times, the WFP must continue to play its integral part helping save lives around the world. Sincerely, Kareem Faraj Chair, World Food Programme 2 COMMITTEE OVERVIEW Introduction The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency. It assists almost 100 million people in 83 countries around the world.1 It distributes some 15 billion rations at an estimated average cost per ration of US$ 0.61.2 The WFP is currently striving to fulfill the strategic goals and objectives set out in its 2017-2021 Strategic Plan. These include supporting countries to achieve zero hunger by protecting access to food, improving nutrition, and achieving food security.3 The drive to end world hunger is currently the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations (UN).4The WFP additionally seeks to support its partners in implementing other SDGs (SDG 17). The WFP is primarily funded by governments. This support is entirely on a voluntary basis.5 Contrary to some other UN organizations, the WFP “receives no dues or portions of the UN assessed contribution”.6 The WFP has no independent source of funds. In addition to the average group of 60 countries that regularly fund the WFP, corporations and individuals can also make donations. Countries in which the WFP operates are provided with a Country Strategic Plan (CSP). Each CSP is unique and are designed to reflect the distinct national needs of each country.7 CSPs are a useful tool which synthetises an entire country’s humanitarian and development portfolio.8 Purpose and Functions The World Food Programme (WFP) defines itself as the “food aid arm of the United Nations system”.9 The ultimate goal of this food aid is the elimination for the need for food aid. Food aid is used to support economic and social development, meet refugee and emergency food needs and promote food security. Food aid is primarily destined to save lives, to improve the nutrition of the most vulnerable people at critical times as well as to promote self-reliance in poor people and communities.10 1 “Overview”, United Nations World Food Programme, accessed August 5, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/overview 2 Ibid. 3 “Corporate strategy”, United Nations World Food Programme, accessed August 5, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/corporate-strategy 4 “Goal 2: Zero Hunger”, Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations, accessed August 5, 2020, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/ 5 “Funding and donors”, World Food Programme, accessed August 5, 2020, accessed August 15, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/funding-and-donors 6 Ibid. 7 “Country strategic planning”, World Food Programme, accessed August 15,2020https://www.wfp.org/country- strategic-planning 8 Ibid. 9 “WFP Mission Statement”, World Food Programme, accessed June 28, 2020, https://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp076289.pdf 10 Ibid. 3 The WFP’s work can be classified along several main lines: • Technical assistance and country capacity strengthening The WFP offers “nationally-tailored technical assistance and capacity development to strengthen government capacities” in order to improve a nation’s ability to “withstand shocks and stress factors which limit the availability of food or constrain access to it”.11 This technical assistance can also include helping country’s elaborate “disaster risk management plans, robust social systems and inclusive economic and social programs”.12 Such work is a boon for developing countries who face food security problems, but who sometimes lack the necessary expertise or resources required to address them. Effective WFP solutions are often shared between developing countries, bolstering South-South cooperation. • Emergency relief Humanitarian emergencies occur when a large-scale event causes human suffering and threatens livelihoods, during which the country’s government does not have the means to respond effectively.13 Disasters can be natural, man-made, or a combination of both. In such contexts, the WFP provides life saving aid when local governments would otherwise fail. • Cash and in-kind food assistance A relatively new program dating back to the late 2000s, cash-transfers represent new a strategic “shift from the traditional concept of food aid to that of food assistance”.14 Food assistance “involves a more complex understanding of people’s long-term nutritional needs and the diverse approaches required to meet them.”15 Cash-transfers can be “physical bank notes, vouchers, or electronic funds” can be spend directly by the recipients. This policy allows recipients of aid to play a more active role in the aid process because it gives them the tools to decide what food they would like to receive and how they would like to receive it. • Humanitarian support and services In order to “save more lives, faster, and at a lower cost to donors and the environment”, the WFP uses “vast expertise and capacity in supply chain, engineering and emergency telecommunications” to help its private partners. To this end, the WFP leads the Logistic Cluster and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster and co-leads the Food Security Cluster.16 This allows the WFP to quickly coordinate different humanitarian partners during large-scale emergencies for maximum effectiveness.17 11 “Country capacity strengthening”, World Food Programme, accessed August 15, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/country-capacity-strengthening 12 Ibid. 13 “Emergency relief”, World Food Programme, accessed August 15, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/emergency-relief 14 “Food assistance: cash and in-kind”, World Food Programme, accessed August 15, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/food-assistance 15 Ibid. 16 “Humanitarian support services”, World Food Programme, accessed August 15, 2020, https://www.wfp.org/humanitarian-support-and-services 17 Ibid. 4 • Resilience building By building resilience within communities, the WFP can “lessen the effects of shocks and stressors” in the future.18 An example of such a program is the Food Assistance for Assets program which provides food assistance while encouraging beneficiaries to rehabilitate “assets such as forests, water ponds, irrigation systems, and feeder roads that will strengthen their resilience and food security in the long term”.19 The WFP has proven particularly effective at quickly providing emergency relief as well as playing a key role in the “continuum from emergency relief to development” – the crucial period of recovery in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster of conflict.20 This is because of the WFP’s multilateral character, which enables it to operate with great flexibility throughout the developing world with little regard to the politics of governments.21 Such neutrality is often key to reaching the world’s most vulnerable. History The WFP was officially established by the United Nation (UN) General Assembly on November 24, 1961 in the context of US president John F Kennedy’s “Decade for Development”. The WFP was originally only an experimental three-year program of approximately $100 million, undertaken jointly by the UN and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).22 Its first Executive Director was Addeke Hendrik Boerma from the Netherlands.23 Not even a year after it was established, the WFP responded to its first emergency, distributing some 1,500 tons of wheat, 270 tons of sugar and 27 tons of tea to the survivors of an earthquake in northern Iran.