WFP's Executive Director is responsible for the administration of WFP as well as the implementation of its programmes, projects and other activities.
Josette Sheeran became the eleventh Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme in April 2007.
Before joining WFP, Ms. Sheeran served as Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs at the United States Department of State. There she was responsible for economic issues including development, trade, agriculture, finance, energy, telecommunications and transportation, with much of her focus on economic diplomacy to help developing nations advance towards economic self-sufficiency and prosperity.
Josette Sheeran's full biography
Today, almost one in every six people on earth wakes up not knowing whether they will have enough to eat.
These are the most vulnerable and voiceless people in the world - poor, hungry families suffering from the prolonged impact of stubbornly high food prices, the global financial crisis, and the increased frequency of climate-related disasters such as drought and hurricanes.
Food security is not only a matter of humanitarian assistance and agricultural development; it is a matter of national security, peace and stability. Without food, people revolt, migrate or die.
The joint ground-breaking strategy escalates cooperative programmes and strategies to implement comprehensive, sustainable food security solutions to help feed one billion hungry people. This decision culminates a two-year effort to advance joint action to help developing nations address food insecurity by investing in agriculture and safety nets, to address hunger exacerbated by the food and financial crises and climate change.
“The challenge of feeding a billion people may seem huge, but now you can fill the cup of a hungry child with a simple click of a mouse,” said Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of WFP. “If a billion internet users donate a dollar, or a Euro a week, we can literally transform the lives of a billion hungry people across the world.
