WFP
Appeals for $500
Million to
Offset Soaring
Food Prices
73
Million Affected
Worldwide
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The
global crisis
in food and
fuel prices is
affecting the
73 million
people fed by
the United
Nations World
Food Programme.
The
agency has made a
worldwide
appeal
of $500
million to close
the gap caused
by the price
hikes.
The
price of food
and fuel has
risen to record
levels in recent
years, shooting
up at an
aggressive pace
of 55 percent
since June 2007,
said Josette
Sheeran,
Executive
Director of the
World Food
Programme (WFP),
in a letter
to donors.
Sheeran
noted that WFP
had taken many
steps to
mitigate the
increases,
including buying
80 percent of
its food
supplies in
local and
regional
markets.
The
agency has also
set up an
internal task
force at its
Rome
headquarters and
is reviewing
ways to better
target its
assistance.
"We
urge your
government to
act quickly on
this request so
that we may
avoid cutting
the rations for
those who rely
on the world to
stand by them
during times of
abject
need," she
added.
Rising
prices also mean
that the world's
poorest people
will have to
spend a larger
proportion of
their income on
food, the agency
said, and they
will buy less
food -- food
that is less
nutritious.
"Our
efforts will
include working
with
governments, UN
agencies and
other partners
to address
long-term
solutions while
we tackle these
urgent
needs," Ms.
Sheeran said.
Countries
where price
rises are
expected to have
a direct impact
include
Zimbabwe,
Eritrea, Haiti,
Djibouti, the
Gambia,
Tajikistan,
Togo, Chad,
Benin, Myanmar,
Cameroon, Niger,
Senegal, Yemen
and Cuba,
according to WFP.
Afghanistan
Prices
are already
affecting food
shortages in
Afghanistan
where WFP is
distributing
emergency food
including wheat.
The
price of wheat
has risen by 70
percent over the
past year.
WFP
aims to reach
2.5 million
people in both
urban and rural
areas of
Afghanistan
including
distributing
wheat to 650,000
people in and
around the
Afghan capital,
Kabul.
The
UN and the
Afghan
Government
joined forces in
January to
appeal for more
than $80 million
to help those
affected by the
rise in food
prices.
The
89,000 tons of
food requested
in the appeal is
on top of the
180,000 tons
that WFP plans
to distribute
this year for
nearly 3.7
million people
recovering from
war, civil
unrest and
recurring
natural
disasters.
Central
America
Last
month, WFP
warned of a
potential
nutritional
crisis in
Central America,
where the prices
of wheat and
corn have nearly
doubled in the
past year and
bad weather has
pushed the price
of beans to
unprecedented
levels.
The
agency notes
that the surge
has meant that
the actual
calorie intake
of an average
meal in rural El
Salvador, for
example, is
today roughly 60
percent of what
it was in May
2006.
"At
this stage it is
still premature
to provide
figures, but we
fear a deepening
nutritional
crisis among the
poorest segments
of the
population,
those already
food and
nutritionally
insecure,"
says WFP El
Salvador Country
Director Carlo
Scaramella, who
is coordinating
a study of the
impact of recent
rising prices in
the region.
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The
United Nations
family lost
a dear friend
and supporter
this past week.
 Julia
Taft, who died
at her
Washington, D.C.
home surrounded
by her family
after a long
battle with
cancer, was a
pioneer in both
style and
substance.
The
UN family who
dealt with Julia
were touched by
her in many ways
- her can-do
spirit blending
with her wit,
her courage and
her compassion
to make her a
woman of so many
achievements.
Many
will forever be
indebted to her
for her advice
and help. In an
age when the
phrase 'agent of
change' has
become a slogan,
Julia was just
that - truly a
force for
change.
Julia
had so many
roles in an
extraordinary
career,
beginning back
in the 1970s,
but she should
always be
remembered for
transforming the
way the
international
community viewed
conflict,
specifically the
critical need to
help countries
make the
transition from
war to peace.
Early
in 2002, she
headed the UN
Task Force,
coordinating and
formulating a
single, coherent
recovery effort
for Afghanistan
as UNDP's Head
of Bureau for
Crisis
Prevention and
Recovery.
She
took that work
on to the
world's major
flashpoints -
Iraq, Liberia,
Haiti - with her
singular energy
and dedication
to the mission
of trying to
ensure nations
did not fall
back into
conflict.
In
Washington, she
was
distinguished by
working across
party lines,
hence the young
woman who worked
for the Ford
Administration
became an
Assistant
Secretary of
State in the
Clinton years.
Prior
to joining UNDP,
Ms. Taft served
as Assistant
Secretary of the
Bureau of
Population,
Refugees, and
Migration at the
United States
Department of
State from 1997
to 2001. She was
President and
CEO of
InterAction from
1993 to 1997.
She also served
as USAID
Director of the
Office of US
Foreign Disaster
Assistance. Ms.
Taft has
received several
awards,
including a
White House
fellowship
(1970), One of
the Ten Most
Outstanding Men
and Women in
Federal Service
(1976), the
Presidential End
Hunger Award
(1989), the
USAID
Distinguished
Service Award
(1989), and the
USSR Award for
Personal Courage
for her relief
efforts in the
Armenian
earthquake
(1990).
Julia
leaves behind
her husband
William and
three children
Julia, Maria and
William.
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Meet
the UN
Secretary-General
of UNCTAD
|
Dr.
Supachai
Panitchpakdi
Secretary-General
of the
United
Nations
Conference
on Trade and
Development
(UNCTAD)
Dr.
Supachai
Panitchpakdi of
Thailand was
appointed
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations
Conference on
Trade and
Development on (UNCTAD)
September 1,
2005.
Dr.
Supachai has
played pivotal
roles as
initiator and
active supporter
of numerous
trade and
investment
facilitating
forums,
groupings and
development
projects. He was
among the first
to push for the
formation of the
Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM)
that draws
together heads
of governments
from Asia and
Europe to foster
closer ties
between the
nations of the
two continents.
He has been a
major driving
force behind the
creation of the
Greater Mekong
Subregion and
the economic
grouping that
links countries
in South and
South-East Asia
.
Dr. Supachai
received his
Master's Degree
in Econometrics,
Development
Planning and his
Ph.D. in
Economic
Planning and
Development at
the Netherlands
School of
Economics (now
known as Erasmus
University) in
Rotterdam.
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Darfur
Consultation
UN
Photo of the
Week
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Brigadier
General Bala
Keita (far
right),
military
commander of
the Western
Sector of
the United
Nations-African
Union Hybrid
Mission in
Darfur (UNAMID),
talks with
the Arab
nomads,
following a
consultation
meeting in
Regel El-Kubri,
Sudan last
week.
© UN
Photo/Stuart
Price
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