The Annual Report takes a detailed but brief look at WFP's yearly activities. It is specifically targeted at the Executive Board, drawing the Board's attention to the key issues faced by WFP in the previous 12 months.

Annual Performance Report: 2003

WFP was put to extraordinary tests in 2003, fighting hunger in a world that sometimes seems intent on producing ever more hungry people. Political divisions, violent conflict, terrorism, natural disasters and the unyielding pandemic of HIV/AIDS all came together to challenge the limits of WFP and the United Nations family. The agency began 2003 already faced with unprecedented needs around the world - US$1.8 billion in Africa alone - and finished the year having delivered close to twice that: an astounding US$3.3 billion of assistance to more than 104 million hungry and food-insecure people around the world.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 2002

Despite global abundance, nearly 800 million people in developing countries are chronically hungry. Wherever hunger is a crisis, WFP is on the front line, meeting the nutritional needs of today while providing opportunities for tomorrow. This annual report illustrates theformidable nature and scale of WFP’s efforts to combat hunger in the world’s most
inaccessible areas.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 2001

In 2001 was a year of challenge. Continuing major needs in the Horn of Africa, Central Asia and North Korea were met, while WFP forged ahead with efforts to fight hunger at its core: poverty and lack of opportunity. Through its decentralised structure, WFP responded quickly to emergency relief needs in Central America, Southern Africa and Asia. With the crisis in Afghanistan, WFP launched one of its largest relief operations ever -- temporarily expanding its assistance to reach over six million additional people.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 2000

1999 2000, the world's poorest nations were repeatedly hit by both natural and man-made emergencies. From flooding in western Bangladesh and West Bengal in India to the collapse of the peace process in Sierra Leone, the number of humanitarian hot spots around the world demanding help from WFP and the international community continued to rise.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 1999

1999 was particularly challenging for WFP. The Programme was called upon to help more people than ever before. The crises in the North Caucasus, East Timor and Kosovo - particularly sensitive areas-tested WFP's capacity to reach those in need of food. Ongoing crises in Afghanistan, Angola, the Great Lakes region, Sudan and other emergency situations also posed major challenges.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 1998

The year 1998 was marked by an unprecedented combination of events that pushed up world hunger levels: climatic catastrophes like Hurricane Mitch in Central America and the Caribbean, and widespread floods in Asia; economic collapse in Indonesia; a resumption of bitter civil wars in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Kosovo and Sierra Leone; and steady, long-term conflict, as in Somalia and southern Sudan, which slowly drains the ability of civilian populations to survive.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 1997 - Recovery from Crisis

1997 saw many dramatic emergency situations: in the Great Lakes region, Sierra Leone, Somalia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, to mention only a few. Fortunately, there are also countries where security conditions improved, allowing WFP to increase its focus on recovery.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 1996 - Food Security is About People

In 1996, millions of people were victim to the horrors unleashed by war and civil conflict; with neither home nor resources, millions of refugees and displaced persons have suffered utter destitution; humanitarian workers have lost their lives trying to help them.

The situation of the people facing a "silent emergency" has not been significantly improved: children have been denied adequate food for their growth; women have been too often excluded and marginalized; lack of basic resources has prevented people from building their future.

Annual Report of the Executive Director: 1995 - Ending the inheritance of hunger

In 1995, WFP reached 50 million people: victims of man-made and natural disasters; mothers and children; and the poorest of the poor in developing countries.

Fewer than last year were victims of emergencies. A peace accord came into place in former Yugoslavia. There was political progress on the refugee crisis caused by the Rwandan exodus. A steady process towards rehabilitation also began in Angola and Mozambique. For the World Food Programme, this has provided some basis for optimism that the tremendous pressure exerted by political crises on its energy and resources may ease in the coming years.