World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The top U.N. humanitarian official has visited Sudan to discuss a growing crisis in two southern states where Khartoum has banned foreign aid groups. Valerie Amos says she has reports that food insecurity and malnutrition have reached "alarming" levels in parts of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. (..) Amos said refugees who have fled to South Sudan and Ethiopia report the humanitarian situation is especially bad in areas held by the rebel SPLM-North group.

Kenyan troops have been drawn into the civil war in Somalia between the government and al-Shabab militants as desperate refugees flee to Ethiopia to escape violence and famine. (..) JAAKKO VALLI, World Food Program: I can understand where the concerns or the donor fatigues comes from. It's -- it's challenging to show real needs of the Somali refugees because some of their displacement is induced by drought, and that doesn't show in the news camera lens as appealing than the damage where an earthquake or even floods can show.

In Ethiopia, good rains are leading to improved food security. Harvests are expected to be good in the lowlands, including the pastoralist areas of the south and southeast and parts of southern-central and northern-central Ethiopia, said Judith Schuler, a representative of the World Food Program (WFP). “But then in other areas like the southern Somali region, they did not have a lot of rains. The rains have been very poor and the food security situation has deteriorated,” said Schuler.

Men, women and children on HIV treatment in drought-affected Ethiopia will benefit from a US$ 56 million donation from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to the World Food Programme (WFP).

At 6 am Shartu Abdulla Ali leaves her home in Fedis, Ethiopia, to walk 12 kilometers to the local market. Her mission is simple: to sell enough firewood, packed on the back of the family donkey, to pay for a meal to feed her family of seven before the end of the day. (..)The Ali's neighborhood does not look like a district with a food shortage. Tall sorghum plants surround the small mud homestead giving the impression of lush green bountiful farmlands, but Fedis is currently Ethiopia's most food insecure district, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Sudan’s aerial bombardment of its Blue Nile state has driven thousands of people across the border into Ethiopia, a painful return for many to a refugee existence they thought was over when the Sudanese civil war ended six years ago. (..) “Some of the residents have been trapped in the bushes. We expect that when ground troops advance, more will come to Ethiopia,” said Aziku Santus, head of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) sub-office in western Ethiopia.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has welcomed a 56 million USD donation from the United States Presiden’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that will dramatically increase resources for programs in Ethiopia providing vital nutrition assistance to people living with HIV (PLHIV).

World Food Programme commends US for donating US$ 56m to boost HIV nutrition in Ethiopia - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday welcomed a US$ 56 million donation from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that will increase resources for programmes in Ethiopia providing vital nutrition assistance to people living with HIV (PLHIV).

UN agencies and their aid partners on Tuesday appealed for US$ 18.3 million to help tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees, who fled to western Ethiopia to escape violence in Sudan’s Blue Nile state. PANA reported that the joint appeal by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and their partner agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is intended to help up to 35,000 refugees.

One of the commitments announced at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative is a public-private partnership between Pepsico, USAID, and the World Food Programme to “dramatically increase chickpea production and promote long-term nutritional and economic security in Ethiopia.”