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Hunger in the news
22 February 2013

From WFP, what worked in the Sahel food crisis response

The World Food Program credits the use of innovative procurement methods for helping avert a humanitarian crisis in the Sahel last year. These are the so-called forward purchase facility — through which WFP buys food for future emergency in advance when prices are lower — and early procurement. WFP also uses the forward purchase facility for its Purchase for Progress pilot initiative, which ends this year. WFP shared the lesson on procurement during the Sahel crisis at a meeting among officials of aid agencies, United Nations bodies, governments, private sector and civil society yesterday at its headquarters in Rome.
Devex
Hunger in the news
22 February 2013

UNHCR calls for plan to build emergency camps for Syrians

A growing exodus to Jordan is leading to overcrowding in refugee facilities, a UN official warned on Thursday, calling for an “ambitious” plan to establish several emergency camps. “We are averaging 2,500 to 3,000 persons per night and we have to find accommodation for them,” said Andrew Harper, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative in Jordan. (..) Plans to open the country’s second camp and a third 50,000-capacity camp some 20 kilometres west of Azraq, have been undermined by an ongoing funding gap, with the UN reportedly receiving less than 20 per cent of a record $1.5 billion pledged by the international community last month.
The Jordan Times
Hunger in the news
21 February 2013

WFP scaling up operations to meet dramatic increase in Syrian refugees

The numbers of Syrian refugees, particularly in Jordan and Lebanon are increasing in a dramatic fashion with Jordan receiving some 2,000 a day, according to David Kaatrud of the World Food Programme (WFP). As a result, the agency has begun scaling up its operations to meet the requirements for the summer and beyond. But he says there are resource constraints as the populations arrive in Jordan and Lebanon in large numbers and require food assistance while waiting to be registered.
UN News Centre
Hunger in the news
21 February 2013

Reaching Displaced Families With Vital Relief Supplies in Syria

A few days ago (16 February) I took part in a joint UN mission to Karameh, in Syria's north-western Idleb Province, to deliver much needed relief supplies to thousands of displaced people. (..) Nearly 25,000 people - displaced from their homes by the on-going conflict in Syria - are estimated to be living in makeshift shelters in locations near the Turkish border, including Karameh, El Qah and Atmeh.
Huffington Post
Hunger in the news
21 February 2013

Jordan prepares third Syrian camp as refugee ‘crisis’ grows

Jordan is preparing to open the country’s third Syrian camp, officials said on Wednesday, in order to meet a refugee influx that has reached “historic” levels. According to Anmar Hmoud, Jordanian government spokesman for Syrian refugee affairs, authorities have begun preparations for a new Syrian refugee camp in order to meet a refugee flow that has reached an average of 2,500 persons per day. (..) The funding gap has lead to repeated delays in the opening of the country’s second camp at Mreijeeb — with officials now hoping to open the 30,000-capacity facility next month.
The Jordan Times
Hunger in the news
21 February 2013

Armenia struggles to absorb Christian refugees from Syria

Aleppo is home to more than 80 percent of Syria’s Armenian community, and those who are still there remain at the center of the battle for control of the country. (..) People there [in Aleppo] are dealing with shortages of food, medicine and electricity during the coldest winter in the Middle East in two decades.
The Washington Post
Hunger in the news
18 February 2013

A Game Aims to Draw Attention to Women’s Issues

Social cause gaming, or the use of games to promote awareness of societal problems, has been growing since pioneer online projects like Food Force, the United Nations World Food Program’s 2005 game about confronting famine, and Darfur Is Dying, MTV’s 2006 offering in which players navigate the terrors of a Sudanese refugee camp.

The New York Times
Hunger in the news
18 February 2013

Pushed from Burma, Stateless Rohingya Flee by Boat

Denied access to farmlands and town markets, able-bodied men are unable to earn any money as day laborers, leaving them fully dependent on aid, explains Carlos Veloso, country director for the U.N. World Food Program in Burma. This is problematic, he points out, since the international donors currently needed to feed legions of displaced (and must renew funding due to expire in April) don’t want to create permanent settlements.
Time Magazine
Hunger in the news
18 February 2013

WFP Launch School Feeding Programe to Boost Enrolment

The program also targets 40,000 girls through the girl’s incentive pilot across 1,250 schools in Eastern Equatoria, Lakes, Jonglei, Warrap, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Barh el Ghazal, Unity and Upper Nile States, Chris Nikoi, WFP Country Director South Sudan said. He said that the feeding program activities are targeted in geographic areas where assessment evidence shows the highest levels of food insecurity in addition to nationally low enrolment, attendance and retention rates especially among girls.
Oye! Times
Hunger in the news
18 February 2013

Analysis: Why southern Lebanon still matters

Time has forgotten parts of southern Lebanon, even if war and occupation have not. (..) All of Lebanon’s peripheries are underdeveloped, and in fact, the north and east of the country - now sheltering tens of thousands of Syrian refugees - are even worse off. (..) But as the Syrian refugee crisis in northern and eastern parts of the country has distracted donors, aid workers and the government alike, the pleas in this remote and delicate part of the country are falling - for the most part - on deaf ears.
IRIN News

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