Aid Professionals

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Aid professionals

10 November 2010

Automated Weather Stations Enhance Ethiopia’s Climate Risk Data

Ethiopia’s National Meteorological Agency (NMA) has just finishing installing 20 automated weather stations that will send real-time data from pastoral areas to Addis Ababa every 15 minutes.

Focus on Women

5 November 2010

Women4Women: Aid Worker's Insight Into Afghanistan

New possibilities are opening up for women in Afghanistan as they start to take a bigger part in the country’s economic life. Challiss McDonough, a WFP staffer in Kabul, tells WFP.org how watching this transformation has helped to offset the challenges she’s faced as a woman working there. Watch video

Aid professionals

25 October 2010

Software Platform Gets The Jump On Droughts

An innovative new software application that keeps real-time tabs on rainfall and its impact on local farmers could help WFP anticipate droughts in Africa before they’re felt. The first platform of its kind, Africa RiskView could also gauge the effects of climate change over the long term.

Aid professionals

20 October 2010

WFP Staffer Comes Home To Work In Congo

Peter Transburg spent much of his childhood in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo while his parents were there teaching. He returned last year as an adult, working for WFP. While he now sees things differently, he says there are many reminders of former days spent climbing guava trees and fishing in rivers.

Cash and Vouchers

15 October 2010

Cash-By-Text Pilot Goes Live In Philippines

Mobile phones are everywhere in the Philippines, even the slums of Manila, where people either have their own or share with others. That means the country is well suited to a new pilot project that uses text messages to distribute money earned through WFP 'cash-for-work' projects.

Aid professionals

1 October 2010

India: Hi-Tech Ration Cards Streamline ‘Fair Price’ System

With over 330 million beneficiaries, the Indian government runs the biggest subsidized food scheme in the world. However, keeping track of them all isn’t easy, which is why WFP is working with the state of Orissa to streamline the system using biometric data like fingerprints and eye scans.

Nutrition

20 September 2010

Scaling Up The Right Nutrition Solutions In Emergencies...But Is There Enough?

A string of humanitarian crises this year has put a strain on global supplies of ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSFs) like plumpy'doz vital to combating child malnutrition. In Pakistan, WFP is filling the gap with a locally-produced chickpea paste that could help bolster RUSF stocks in the future.

Logistics

14 September 2010

Pakistan: WFP Logistics Arm Lends A Hand To Aid Community

Moving food around a disaster area as vast as the one in Pakistan takes planes, trucks, helicopters and lots of coordination. Transport expert Simon Hacker explains how WFP’s strong suit helps the entire humanitarian community overcome the logistical challenges that come with working in a flood zone.

Aid professionals

17 August 2010

“I Wanted To Be Part Of The Solution,” Says WFP Staffer

As a teenager, Jan Delbaere decided he wanted to do something about hunger and poverty. Now he works in some of the toughest humanitarian situations to determine how WFP can help the hungry. For World Humanitarian Day, August 19, we recognize the work of Jan and other aid workers like him. See video

Responding to Emergencies

10 August 2010

IT Team Leader Says Tough Job Ahead In Pakistan

In disaster situations, where huge relief operations have to be mobilized overnight, WFP’s crack IT unit, the FITTEST team pride themselves on being the first on the ground. Dane Novarlic, who recently arrived in flood-wracked Pakistan, explains what his team is up against and why their mission is so important.