World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

WFP today strongly condemned the hijacking of a food aid ship Wednesday afternoon by unidentified gunmen at the port of Merka, 100 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu.

WFP joins forces with leading advertising agency Leagas Delaney to build public empathy in Europe for the more than 850 million people who still go hungry.

At the Italian launch of the AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, UNAIDS, WFP and the Italian Government underline the crucial role of prevention and good nutrition in the fight against AIDS, particularly in Africa.

As the world focuses on a series of massive natural disasters and the spread of avian influenza, hunger in Africa has quietly climbed to an all-time high, threatening to destabilize much of the continent, warns James T. Morris, Executive Director of WFP.

The release of the hijacked MV Miltzow – after being held for 32 hours – was welcomed today by WFP, which can now proceed with delivering the cargo of relief food to 78,000 drought-stricken people in southern Somalia.

WFP confirmed today that the hijackers of a WFP-chartered ship seized three months ago had broken an agreement to release the vessel.

WFP today declared null and void all agreements with Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and community leaders to end the hijack of a Kenyan-owned vessel off the coast of Somalia.

WFP and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed today for a total of US$29 million to assist 1.2 million people in Kenya struggling with critical food shortages, limited agricultural support, and shortages of basic health care and drinking water caused by drought and extreme poverty.

Nairobi With the momentous signing today of a peace accord which brings to an end one of Africa\'s longest and bloodiest wars, WFP launches a US$302 million emergency appeal to feed 3.2 million Sudanese.