WFP estimated that more than 345 million people around the world face some degree of crisis food insecurity this year, an increase of nearly 200 million people since the beginning of 2020. Of these, 43 million are just a step away from hunger.
Warning to reduce portion sizes
“Ration cuts are coming if we don’t have the money to feed those who need it most,” McCain warned. “My priorities are clear: increasing resources, improving efficiency, and expanding partnerships and innovation to bring state-of-the-art solutions to those who need them most.”
In particular, working with the private sector to raise funds and identify new ideas will be especially important to help the world’s most vulnerable people stop hunger, the new WFP director explains.
Thinking beyond the framework
“No organization can alone solve world hunger…Today we urge new friends – especially from the private sector – to step up and join us.” said the new CEO of WFP, who also announced a new task force on innovation “bring together the best minds in both the public and private sectors” to find concrete ideas.
WFP is known for Innovation Accelerator, launched in 2015 to identify, pilot, and scale innovative projects to advance the fight against hunger with digital technology. One of these projects is “Share a meal” smartphone appallows individuals to easily raise money to help feed people during specific emergencies.
seasoned internationalist
Mrs. McCain – who took over from the former governor of South Carolina, David Beasley – is well positioned to pull the levers of international humanitarianismhas served since 2021 as U.S. Ambassador to WFP and other Rome-based United Nations agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FAO)IFAD).
WFP said that in her role as US Ambassador to these UN agencies, Ms. McCain witnessed the organization’s activities “up close,” traveling to Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Guatemala. , Honduras, Kenya, Zambia, Tajikistan and Madagascar in the past year .
In 2022, WFP delivers food assistance to a record 158 million people around the world. The agency operates in more than 120 countries and territories and works against hunger has been recognized with Nobel Peace Prize 2020.
In addition to providing emergency food relief and logistics, including trucks, planes, ships and helicopters in some of the most complex humanitarian operations globally, WFP is also the The world’s largest school meal supplier.
Just last month agency released a landmark report on the state of school meals, which provide a “critical safety net” for children and vulnerable households during the global food crisis, at a time when more than 150 million children and young people are hungry.
