Aid Professionals

Stories

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.

Aid professionals

23 January 2012

South Sudan: World's Newest Country Deploys World's Newest Solution For Emergency Comms

As the world’s youngest country, IT and telecommunications infrastructure in South Sudan are still underdeveloped, posing enormous challenges for humanitarian workers. A new partnership between WFP and the Government of Luxembourg is changing, thanks to the new ‘emergency.lu’ platform which has just been deployed in South Sudan.

Responding to Emergencies

13 December 2011

New 'Pick and Mix' Early Warnings Service Launched

Get exactly what you want – and none of what you don’t. That’s what WFP’s Early Warning, Analysis and Support team is offering with a new service which allows WFP's partners in other agencies to personalize and customize exactly what information they receive. The service incorporates the team's expanding monitoring and analysis work and is based on feedback received from staff and partners.

Fight Against HIV/AIDS

9 December 2011

HIV project in Lao PDR wins award for South-South Cooperation

A WFP-supported project to provide better HIV treatment and care in Lao PDR has received an award in recognition of excellent South-South Cooperation.

Aid professionals

30 November 2011

IT Expert Keeps The Lights On In Somalia

WFP staff in Somalia depend on generators for power, but poor-quality diesel fuel in the country can lead to frequent breakdowns. To tackle the problem, a WFP IT expert has devised a custom filtering system which protects the generator from impurities. Deployed across the country, the system has helped to provide aid workers with a more reliable source of power.