Years of conflict, displacement, and environmental shocks have led to chronic hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and the loss of many lives in the world’s youngest country.
The price of failing to fund children’s school meals far outweighs the cost of such programmes, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley said yesterday (28 July).
“We all understand the power of children getting an education, and we also understand the power of children getting a good school meal,” said Beasley, addressing the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit in Rome. 
The German Ambassador in Jordan Bernhard Kampmann announced the contribution at a joint press conference today, reaffirming his country’s commitment to supporting the Government of Jordan and WFP in addressing the food needs of around half a million refugees in Jordan.
“We are glad that the increase of our funding is coming just in time to avoid the impending cuts in food assistance.
“Real-time data on school attendance and feeding is key to enabling efficient management of the programme and its expansion to reach more school children in the country,” said Anna Mukiibi-Bunnya, WFP Representative ad interim and Officer-in-charge.
For the fifth consecutive year, erratic weather patterns –prolonged dry spells and excessive rains—have decimated maize and bean crops in the Dry Corridor of Central America.
WFP is concerned about the safety of tens of thousands of people who have become displaced due to the violence in northeast Syria. Since 9 October, large numbers of people have fled the towns of Ras al-Ayn in Hasakeh and Tell Abyad in Raqqa, though some have since returned to their places of origin.
WFP has stepped up its emergency response to support victims of the devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, providing emergency food assistance to nearly two million quake-affected people in the two countries through hot meals, emergency ready-to-eat food packages and family food rations.
As we approach the 6-month mark in the conflict, famine is ever closer in the north of Gaza. Malnutrition among children is spreading at record pace, and one of three children below the age of two is now acutely malnourished or “wasted”. Some 70 percent of the population in the North is facing catastrophic hunger
This article marks International Women's Day 2021: ‘Women in Leadership, achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’
“Women in Bangladesh were not allowed to go outside of their houses before,” says Khurshideh Begum, recalling her days as a young bride.
Liberia has made significant development strides over the last decade, trying to reduce poverty and expand basic service delivery to its population, and transitioning from one democratically elected Government to another.