WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

Subject: International Organisation

Context: 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the UN agency World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

Concept:

The World Food Programme is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security.

WFP is headquartered in Rome, Italy. It is governed by an Executive Board, which consists of 36 member states.

It is headed by an Executive Director, who is appointed jointly by the UN Secretary-General and the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The Executive Director is appointed for fixed five-year terms.

The WFP operations are funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors.

WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS.

Objectives of the World Food Programme:

• Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies.
• Support food security and nutrition and (re)build livelihoods in fragile settings and following emergencies.
• Reduce risk and enable people, communities and countries to meet their own food and nutrition needs.
• Reduce under-nutrition and break the inter-generational cycle of hunger.
• Zero Hunger in 2030.

WFP initiatives in India:

WFP has proposed some unique initiatives like Automatic Grain Dispensing Machine (Annapurti) and Mobile Storage Units for the effective implementation of TPDS.

It has completed a pilot on rice fortification used in the government’s Mid-day Meals scheme in  Varanasi.

WFP will provide technical assistance for setting up supplementary nutrition production units in 18 districts for supply of quality food to about 33 lakh beneficiaries of the Anganwadi scheme (Integrated Child Development Services).