World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Lao villagers have a special name for the last months of the rainy season, from August to October:  Suang Khaad Khao Kin – the time when there is no more rice. While the new harvest is ripening in the fields, food stocks run low.  Also called the ‘lean season’, this time is coming to an end for this year, but for close to 40,000 people in Khammuane province, central Laos, it would have been a lot tougher without help from WFP.
 

WFP in Laos is expanding its successful Mother and Child Health and Nutrition Programme to a second province. Young children in the remote north of Laos simply love the food they receive through the programme: Plumpy’Doz is a specialised nutritious food that helps prevent malnutrition. In an area where 50 to 60 percent of children under the age of five are chronically malnourished, the peanut-based paste is key to keep children growing strong and healthy.
 

A baby explains to his mum that breastmilk really is the only thing he needs during the first six months after birth. A child dances with different kinds of food, makes friends with them and becomes strong and healthy. A little boy watches with fascination as all the food his mum eats turns into breastmilk for his little sister. Did we catch your attention?

Laotian national Vadsana Sinthavong represented WFP at the Olympic Torch Relay in the UK on Sunday, carrying the Flame through the streets of Birmingham as it made its way to London to start the 2012 Olympic Games. Sinthavong was chosen to represent WFP from a large pool of candidates by WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.

Laos has some of the worst child malnutrition rates in the world – every second child under the age of five in rural areas is chronically malnourished, impacting their physical and mental development for a lifetime. Nutrition knowledge is central to tackle this problem, and WFP's innovative nutrition education programme - Feeding the Future - empowers communities throughout the country to improve their diets and ensure children grow up strong and healthy.

 A WFP-supported project to provide better HIV treatment and care in Lao PDR has received an award in recognition of excellent South-South Cooperation.

Nutrition is at the heart of the new Country Programme for Lao PDR approved by the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome during its Second Regular Session from 14 to 17 November 2011. The Country Programme details WFP’s projects to fight malnutrition in Lao PDR in the years 2012 to 2015. Read more

Many people in northern Lao PDR still face difficulties feeding their families throughout the year. WFP is currently supporting people in Oudomxay province through a Cash-for-Assets project to improve their food security and diversify their nutrition in the long term. These projects were recently completed, but the benefits are just starting to flow in.

Many women in remote parts of northern Laos wouldn't normally go for health checks, even when they are pregnant. But now, thanks to the food rations WFP is offering as part of a Mother and Child Health and Nutrition project, many more are attending the health centres and getting important health care for themselves and their babies.

Thousands of families in central and southern Laos will need both immediate and medium term assistance before the next rice harvest in October 2011. People who are already vulnerable to food insecurity after Typhoon Ketsana hit the region in 2009 were struck hard by a 2010 drought lasting throughout June and localized flash floods.