World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Five UN agencies, singer Santiago Cruz, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the Government of Colombia organized a fair to showcase local experiences on the issue of food security and nutrition in the Chocó.

BOGOTA-The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Department of the Atlantic have decided to work together to combine efforts and resources to support a food and nutrition plan of the Atlantic, seeking to combat food insecurity and undernutrition in that department.

As a child Inka Himanen dreamt of going on expeditions to the jungles of the Amazon to explore the exotic wildlife. She never became a wildlife explorer, but she did get to see the jungles of South America. Inka today works as a programme officer for the United Nations World Food Programme  ( WFP) in Colombia providing food assistance for the internally displaced people ( IDPs)affected by internal conflict.  We asked her about her work for WFP in Colombia – here are her answers.

The purpose of the Governor’s mission was to learn about WFP’s experiences in dealing with emergencies in the Latin America and Caribbean region. The Governor aims to establish an Emergency Operations Centre in Barranquilla to assist vulnerable populations living in the Caribbean coast of Colombia in case of disasters.

The online quiz game Freerice crossed another milestone today with the addition of its one millionth registered player. The game, which allows players to raise rice for the hungry with every correct answer, has provided meals to almost 5 million people since launching in 2007.

WFP and KONAMI Digital Entertainment have teamed up to create an online game with a real-world impact. Food Force puts players at the helm of the world’s largest humanitarian aid agency. It combines the multiplayer fun of other popular social media games with the ability to provide real meals to hungry children around the globe. Start playing Food Force!

In Colombia, WFP assists many victims of sexual and gender-based violence, providing them with food assistance as they recover. As part of her work for WFP, Mariangela Bizzarri recently visited a town on Colombia's Pacific coast to meet some of these women and to assess the impact of the violence they have experienced. She sent us this personal account of one day of meetings.

Myriam Parra was rescued from poverty by a turn of good fortune. Now she’s set up a school in rural Colombia where kids who aren’t as lucky can get an education. As Myriam’s first partner, WFP is making sure her students get the nutritious food they need to learn and grow.

Mercedes Bohorquez has made panela, the main ingredient in Colombia’s favourite thirst-quencher for as long as she can remember. But, unable to sell her product herself, she remained trapped in poverty. Now, with a helping hand from WFP, she and her fellow paneleros are solving that problem.

WFP has launched an emergency operation to assist 30,000 people in different parts of the country which have been badly affected by flooding and avalanches caused by the eruption of a volcano.