Aid Professionals

Stories

Aid professionals

30 October 2012

Disaster Simulation Readies Telecomms Team For Emergencies

An immersive disaster simulation in Germany recently put the skills of an emergency telecoms team to the test with many of the same hazards and dilemmas that await them in the field. Armed militants and angry mobs were just a few of the scenarios participants had to negotiate in the process of setting up telecoms services for an emergency response.

Aid professionals

5 October 2012

Online Hazards Platform Gets Major Revamp

An update to HEWSweb, an online natural hazards platform, brings some major improvements to users who rely on the service for real-time information on emergencies like earthquakes and floods. Pages compiling historical data and key statistics for individual countries and each kind of disaster are a few of the platform’s new features.

Nutrition

5 October 2012

Sahel Crisis: WFP Nutritionists Answer 5 Questions

This year’s hunger crisis in the Sahel brought with it a strong risk that many children would fall into malnutrition – the effects of which can be irreversible. In this Q&A, our West Africa team of nutritionists explain what WFP’s response has been and talk about some of the challenges faced.

Aid professionals

27 September 2012

Weather Forecaster Helps Aid Workers Plan Ahead

Knowing whether it will rain or shine can make a huge difference for aid workers who frequently have to make decisions based on the weather. After a successful pilot project in South Sudan, WFP is bringing in a professional meteorologist for the first time who will work with the agency’s emergency preparedness team.

Aid professionals

15 August 2012

Afghanistan: New Humanitarian Mission For Lourdes

After winning the 2012 WFP Merit Award for her work in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, Lourdes Ibarra recently started a new challenging job as the Head of WFP's Herat Area Office in Afghanistan. On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, Lourdes talks about the difficulties and rewards of her career as a humanitarian worker. This article first appeared in the Huffington Post.

Aid professionals

6 July 2012

Interactive Maps Make Logistics Planning Easier

Getting food assistance to hungry people in Chad and other remote areas of Africa's Sahel region is hard at the best of times. And with the region now hit by a major hunger crisis, the pressure on WFP's logistics team is higher than ever. Some new mapping technology is providing welcome support.

Aid professionals

3 July 2012

Ethiopia – An African Leader In Disaster Risk Management

Risk management is high on the agenda of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition launched by G8 leaders in May 2012. It’s part of a paradigm shift from managing disasters to managing risks, which is central to the New Alliance’s commitment to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth, reduce poverty, and improve food security in Africa. Mathewos Hunde, a leading Ethiopian expert in the field, tells us how risks are being managed in his country.

Aid professionals

1 July 2012

Dedicated Aid Worker Carries Olympic Torch For WFP

Laotian national Vadsana Sinthavong represented WFP at the Olympic Torch Relay in the UK on Sunday, carrying the Flame through the streets of Birmingham as it made its way to London to start the 2012 Olympic Games. Sinthavong was chosen to represent WFP from a large pool of candidates by WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.

Aid professionals

17 May 2012

Let’s Net - Preparation Is Key

Participants from all over the world are joining the Let's Net training course to become Electronic Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) and give their support in the field for emergencies that need telecommunication services to be set up.

Aid professionals

24 April 2012

Preparing An IT Force For Emergency Response

Emergency IT personnel are often among the first aid workers to respond in an emergency. It takes a unique set of skills to operate in such a fast-moving, high-pressure work environment. An upcoming disaster simulation organised by WFP will help emergency telecomms specialists prepare for the challenges and rigors that await them in the field.