As Laos prospers, child malnutrition persists

Economic growth in Laos is propelling the country towards achieving middle income status by 2020, yet chronic malnutrition among children under five years old remains a pervasive challenge, experts say. (..) Laos’s nationwide stunting average is 44 percent among under-fives, and stunting rates are as high as 58 percent in the northern highland provinces, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). “Laos is a challenging context to address hunger,” said Aachal Chand, WFP Laos’s head of nutrition, who says key obstacles include geographic isolation, the need for greater dietary diversity and poor awareness about nutritional health. Other experts additionally point to heavy reliance on subsistence farming in rural areas, as well as seasonal and weather-induced food insecurity.

Why We Do What We Do: A U.N. Security Officer Reflects on World Humanitarian Day

I signed my first contract with UNICEF on 17 August 2003 with Chris Klein Beekman, or "CKB," a committed, caring and thoughtful man in his early 30s, married for two years and with a new-born daughter at home. He died in my arms two days later, following the bombing of Baghdad's Canal Hotel. (..) Fast-forward to 9 June 2009, and the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan. I had just joined the UN's World Food Programme, and the Taliban came calling with a truck bomb underneath my room. (..) I am frequently asked why I keep doing this job, and I have to say that sometimes I wonder myself. It's a question equally valid if asked of all humanitarian workers: Why do we keep doing this? Why do we respond to natural disasters, emergencies and similar events that invariably lead to UN humanitarian intervention? (..) The number 95? That's the number of names engraved on the memorial wall in the foyer at WFP headquarters in Rome.

El-Kassaby: Learning what it means to be a humanitarian

Being raised in Canadian suburbs by Egyptian parents, I felt that something was missing. It was time to leave Canada to get in touch with my culture, my language and my people. So, I flew to Cairo and that’s where it all began. (..) To me, being a humanitarian worker comes down to genuine solidarity with the people we serve. (..) At WFP it is our job to ensure that every affected Syrian receives the nutrition they need. To put the consequences of this crisis into perspective, by the end of the year we will be assisting 4 million conflict-affected people inside Syria and nearly 3 million refugees in neighbouring countries, each with a story, a memory and a dream of a better Syria.

Central African Republic in danger of becoming a failed state, warns UN

The Central African Republic (CAR) is "close to being a failed state" and threatens to spread chaos in the heart of the continent, UN officials have warned. (..) Valerie Amos, the UN's humanitarian chief, called on the security council to take swift action to restore security and end the suffering of millions. (..) The turmoil has affected the 4.6 million-strong population in its entirety, Amos added. About 1.6 million people are in dire need of food, protection, healthcare, water, shelter and other assistance. (..) Nearly 60,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring states, two-thirds of them in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.