World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The Philippines will release an additional P500 million for humanitarian assistance to Mindanao as the government and the European Union (EU) renewed commitments to provide support to families affected by violence in Central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). [...] Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo thanked the EU for its two grants totaling €6.5 million EURO for humanitarian relief. International organizations and NGOs such as the World Food Program (WFP), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Organization are implementing the grants for Migration, and Oxfam GB.

Japan will extend 9.5 million dollars in rice aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the strife-torn southern Philippine region of Mindanao, a Japanese embassy statement said Monday. The aid will be in the form of 7,500 metric tons of rice, which will be distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP) to people displaced by fighting between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Mindanao.

Japan will provide an emergency food aid amounting to 9.5 million U.S. dollars to the thousands of war-displaced persons in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, its embassy in Manila said on Sunday. The assistance will cover the distribution of 7,500 metric tons of rice to affected civilians through the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP).

The United Nations and non-government organizations on Tuesday sent hundreds of tons of food items to flood-hit areas in Northern Mindanao, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said Tuesday. An article on the CBCP website said the first installment of help from the UN humanitarian relief arm World Food Programme (WFP), mostly rice, started arriving at depots in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Cities. [...] Patricia Artadi-Facultad of the World Food Programme-Philippines said the initial 630 metric tons of rice will meet the rice needs for one month of at least 25,000 families. "WFP fully understands that the situation remains fluid, and we will continue to work closely with government and NGOs on the ground to further assess and adjust our response accordingly," said WFP country director and Philippine representative Stephen Anderson.

A military official claimed on Wednesday that non-government organizations and other aid groups are considering "slowing down" the delivery of food to conflict-ridden areas of Mindanao following reports some of the assistance allegedly found its way into rebel hands. But the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) denied any such plan. [...] Stephen Anderson, WFP country director for the Philippines, said: "That's news to me. I would like to see more context in that statement, otherwise, I don't want to comment further. I need more details to react to that." Anderson said they "don't have the plan to slow down" food delivery. In fact, "We are sustaining food support in response to the continuing needs on the ground," he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that the three staff abducted by gunmen in the southern Philippines are alive and well. Telephone calls made by the three from Friday to Monday have confirmed they are still being kept together. But they also relayed a message from their abductors demanding that the military stop searching for them. The ICRC also quashed rumours that any ransom demand had been made, stressing the organisation does not pay ransoms.

[...] The World Food Programme, the United Nations humanitarian agency, is sending 630 tons of rice to help flood-stricken residents of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities and the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte. [...] [WFP deputy country director Alghassim Wurie] said the UN will send 1,747 bags of rice to feed some 17,638 families or 91,746 individuals in 47 of Cagayan de Oro's 80 barangays. Misamis Oriental, on the other hand, will receive 6,815 bags for its 14,105 families or 64, 719 persons affected by the disaster. Misamis Oriental briefed Wurie and the UN representatives about the damages using a Powerpoint presentation. Baicon Macaraya of the UNWFP Philipines, explaining the discrepancy, said they decided on the rice allotment based on "need and urgency." "There are homeless people in Misamis Oriental. We also determine their capacity to earn in the next few months," Macaraya told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. UNWFP Country Director and Representative Stephen Anderson said humanitarian assistance should be given to farmers and fishermen who will bear the brunt of starvation in the lean months after the disaster.

The United Nations' humanitarian relief arm, the World Food Programme (WFP), will start distributing food aid to flood-hit people in northern Mindanao and Lanao del Sur on Tuesday, an official said. Patricia Artadi-Facultad of the WFP Philippines office said the supply of some 630 metric tons of rice for about 25,000 families displaced by flood in the region has already arrived and were being prepared for handout. She said the first batch of food aid is slated to be distributed in Cagayan de Oro; Opol, Alubijid and El Salvador towns in Misamis Oriental; and Lanao del Sur areas. [...] Earlier, Stephen Anderson, WFP's Country Director and Representative in the Philippines, has said the agency is "concerned over the growing number of persons displaced by this natural disaster, some of whom are already vulnerable due to the conflict in the area." Anderson stressed that "the restoration of livelihoods of the affected people could take time."

Now that the rains have somehow abated, Misamis Oriental officials fear that majority of the province's one million residents will face hunger in the aftermath of the recent devastating flash floods. "Our problem now is how our people will fare in the coming months. The next planting season is still months away. How will they survive in between those months," Misamis Oriental Vice Governor Norris Babiera told officials of the World Food Programme (WFP). [...] The World Food Programme, a United Nations humanitarian agency, has pledged to send 630 tons of rice that will be distributed to the two cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro and the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte, which were stricken by flash floods last week. WFP deputy country director Alghassim Wurie said 6,815 bags of rice will be given to 14,105 families or 64,719 persons affected by the disaster. Wurie said each of the families will receive 25 kilos of rice, but the amount is barely enough to see them through the lean months ahead.

The death toll in what meteorologists had described as an unusual weather phenomenon is rising as rains and floods continue to wreak havoc in Mindanao and parts of Visayas and Bicol. [...] The World Food Programme (WFP), responding to appeals for help from local governments, is to provide up to 630 tons of rice to help 25,000 families displaced by the Mindanao floods, the UN agency said in a statement Friday.