World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

WFP has launched an emergency operation to deliver life-saving food assistance to thousands of people fleeing conflict in Mali. As refugees stream into areas already strained by drought in the Sahel, it's imperative to reach them with assistance in time for the summer Hunger Season.

The telecoms company Orange has donated close to $100,000 to WFP to provide much-needed food assistance to internally displaced people in Mali.

For the third time in a decade, drought in the Sahel region of Africa is threatening millions of people with hunger. But how do people survive in these situations and what are we doing to help them? Here are the answers to eight questions about the current hunger crisis in the Sahel and WFP's response to it.

Fighting in northern Mali has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. While some people have fled across borders into neighboring countries, others have had to move to other parts of the country.

A full-scale food and nutrition crisis is looming in Mali following significant crop and pastures shortages.  Recent clashes between the Malian army and armed combatants in the north of the country have also displaced tens of thousands of people. 

For the third time in a decade, drought has returned to the Sahel region of West Africa bringing hunger to millions of people across the region. WFP is pre-positioning food assistance ahead of the annual lean season when the vulnerable – especially women and children – are most at risk of malnutrition.

In early September, WFP nutrition focal points and their government counterparts from 18 countries across West Africa gathered in Dakar for a four-day workshop. 
 

Pandemics and large-scale disasters pose specific challenges to humanitarian emergency operations, especially in urban areas. Through a recent one-week pandemic simulation, WFP aimed to prepare countries in West Africa to face these challenges so that they can better assist vulnerable populations.

African pop duo Amadou and Mariam, who launched their new single Labendela in Rome on Monday, say their new role as Ambassadors Against Hunger for the EU allows them to be “flag-bearers” for the fight against hunger and poverty in countries such as their native Mali.