Regional Food Assistance - World Food Programme 2013

January 28 2013 - Established in 1961 the World Food Programme (WFP) is the food assistance arm of the United Nations and is the largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger in the world. WFP provides food assistance to vulnerable populations as a means of addressing hunger and global food insecurity. WFP has demonstrated knowledge and capacity to address the urgent food needs of vulnerable populations and to contribute to fighting global hunger. Given WFP's presence and capacity there are no other agencies that are able to perform the same functions on a similar scale as WFP. DFATD's funding is supporting WFP food assistance operations in various countries in the region of Western Africa and in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013. For example in Burkina Faso Mauritania and Niger WFP will provide targeted food and/or cash distributions for up to 335 000 Malian refugees and provide blanket supplementary feeding to prevent acute malnutrition among refugee children.

The expected outputs include: Through this project the World Food Programme (WFP) is able to respond swiftly to rapid-onset emergencies and protracted crises in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the region of Western Africa. WFP field operations will include: providing food assistance through designated distribution sites (e.g. refugee camps therapeutic feeding centres); activating emergency response mechanisms using ground-breaking technology to undertake assessments and to direct assistance where most needed; undertaking local and regional purchase; and logistical and telecommunications support to transport food to crisis zones through the use of ships planes helicopters and trucks. The expected intermediate outcome is: Reduced vulnerability of crisis-affected people especially women and children.