World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Zeinab, 11, a schoolgirl from northern Egypt, is keen on school and wants to be a teacher when she grows up. In this short interview she tells us about  her life, her family, her favourite food (and how to cook it).

WFP's rapid response ICT teams are playing a critical role in ensuring that telecommunications are up and running to respond to the North Africa crisis. For IT assistant Hossam Metwally, the long days have paid off: he is seeing first-hand the importance of building the communications framework needed to deliver food aid.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran has called for humanitarian access to areas of Libya in need of food assistance after traveling to the Tunisia border on Tuesday to meet local authorities, aid organisations, and people who have fled the ongoing disturbances in Libya. Watch video | Read statement

A project to bring nutritionally-enhanced vegetable oil into the homes of some 60 million people got underway this week in a bid to stem widespread malnutrition in Egypt. The joint effort makes use of Egypt’s vast subsidized food system to ensure that the country’s poorest get the vitamins and minerals they need.

Ghana, Guatemala, Bangladesh and Cape Verde are just a few of the countries where national governments, working with WFP and others, are taking effective steps to fight hunger themselves. WFP is marking World Food Day this year by spotlighting these successes and the importance of partnerships.

Baladi bread is the backbone of the Egyptian diet. Cheap, filling and ingrained into Egypt’s culture, it’s also the only food most poor Egyptians can afford. That’s why WFP and partners are enriching it with micronutrients to bring proper nutrition into the homes over 50 million people. Watch video

On her first outing as a WFP Ambassador Against Hunger, Tunisian filmstar Hend Sabry visited schools in Upper Egypt to meet girls who take part in a WFP-supported school meals programme. One of them was a high-flier who said her education wouldn’t even be possible without food aid.

WFP staff member Gene Luna, killed in a 2007 bomb attack in Algiers, is one of scores of humanitarian workers who have died in the line of duty in recent years.

The US$20 billion pledged for food security by G8 leaders last week should be used for urgent hunger needs as well as for agricultural development, WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu said Wednesday in the Egyptian Red Sea town of Sharm El Sheikh.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has announced the commitment of US$3 million to WFP to work with the Egyptian Government on the fortification of wheat flour with folic acid and iron.