News

Afghanistan: New Humanitarian Mission For Lourdes

After winning the 2012 WFP Merit Award for her work in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, Lourdes Ibarra recently started a new challenging job as the Head of WFP's Herat Area Office in Afghanistan. On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, Lourdes talks about the difficulties and rewards of her career as a humanitarian worker. This article first appeared in the Huffington Post.

First time here

14 August 2012

4 Humanitarians Who Fight Hunger For A Living

Every day, humanitarian workers around the globe make sacrifices and face danger in order to aid people who need their help. As we recognize their commitment and dedication on World Humanitarian Day (August 19), here are four outstanding humanitarians who fight hunger for a living.

Responding to Emergencies

14 August 2012

Paraguay: WFP Brings Food to Flood-Stricken El Chaco

El Gran Chaco is a semi-arid hot and low land region that covers parts of Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay. In Paraguay, unusual torrential destroyed crops, affecting thousands of families, mostly indigenous and peasants. The Recaldes were among those families who were desperate to receive food rations back in June. Thanks to WFP and the Government’s assistance, this family and other are is slowly recovering.

10 August 2012

Ndeley Agbaw, Procurement Officer For West Africa, Senegal

Ndeley coordinates food procurement for WFP operations in the 19 countries of West Africa where WFP works. As well as sourcing food from the regional office in Dakar, this also involves supporting the organisation's country offices as they buy food locally. In the course of his work, Ndeley spends alot of time training staff and liaising with local authorities and traders.

10 August 2012

Anwar Gul, Programme Officer, Pakistan

Anwar is head of WFP's sub-office in the northern Pakistan region of Swat. As a programme officer he oversees most of the organisation's activities in the area. These include school meals, Food-for-Work and nutrition programmes. Anwar's job involves a lot of coordinating with local administrations, which are of course involved in the planning and implementation of the programmes.

8 August 2012

Sungval Tunsiri, Programme Officer, Afghanistan

Sungval is deputy head of progamming in Afghanistan, which means she works out the plans for what food should be distributed where and to whom. She is based in Kabul and says her job involves writing documents, coordinating with the various units in the country office and a 'lot of technical stuff'.

First time here

8 August 2012

High Food Prices: 10 Questions Answered

The recent drought in the United States and its impact on maize prices has focused the world's attention back onto global food prices. The latest data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization shows that prices are in fact up a little after a period of decline. High food prices not only put a strain on the already tight food budgets of the world’s poor, but raise the price of helping them with food aid.

8 August 2012

Sahel Crisis: Country By Country

Hunger is on the rise across the Sahel region of West Africa, a massive swathe of territory that stretches across eight countries from Chad in the east to Senegal in the west. Here is a rundown of the situation in each country and a look at how we're responding to help the people who live there.

7 August 2012

Syria: How WFP Is Feeding The Hungry (Interview)

Since the beginning of July, WFP has reached more than 40,000 people in and around the embattled city of Aleppo with food supplies. But here, as in many parts of Syria, insecurity is a major challenge. From Damascus, country director Muhannad Hadi gives the low-down on one of WFP’s most complex operations of the moment.

7 August 2012

Hector Roca, food security analyst, Guatemala

Hector is an assistant in the VAM (Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping) unit of WFP’s Guatemala office. His job is mainly to carry out food security and nutrition assessments and to produce maps displaying this information. He also helps with managing information databases.