The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
World Food Programme reaches deal to supply food to 185,000 children in Venezuela
The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) has signed an agreement with the Government of Venezuela to begin operations to provide the most vulnerable children in the South American country with nutritious school meals, it announced on Tuesday.
The agency’s goal is to reach 185,000 students by year’s end and 1.5 million by the end of the 2022-2023 school year. It estimated the food assistance programme’s annual budget at $190 million.
Humanitarian aid groups have long pushed for the Government of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro to allow WFP to distribute food aid in Venezuela.
The agency has previously worked in the country on a development project in the early 70s and has responded to flooding emergencies in later years.
The development follows Monday’s meeting between WFP Executive Director David Beasley and President Maduro and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
“Our school meals programmes are independent, they’ve always been and separate from any other interference. Not only in Venezuela, but elsewhere that we have worked,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri told journalists in Geneva.
Mr Phiri explained that the operation will focus on pre-primary and special education schools, as well as “investing in the rehabilitation of school canteens and training school staff on food safety practices as a means of reaching the wider community”.
In total, there are around eight million children under 14 in Venezuela,” according to WFP, its project coming amid a rise in child malnutrition linked to the spiralling economic crisis in the oil-rich country, soaring food prices and hyperinflation.
“One out of three Venezuelans - which is about 32.3 per cent is food insecure today - and they are in need of assistance” said Mr. Phiri. This includes 2.3 million people who are severely food insecure.
A joint analysis by WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in October included Venezuela among 20 countries that were “likely to face potential spikes in high acute food insecurity” over the following three to six months requiring “urgent attention.”
ENDS
STORY: Venezuela School Meals - WFP
TRT: 02 min 18s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 20 APRIL 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a sunny day.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for WFP (UN World Food Programme): “After reaching an agreement with the government, WFP will start a humanitarian operation in Venezuela that will forecast on a school meals programme in areas that are most food insecure. Through a phased approach, WFP will aim to provide daily meals to 1.5 million students by the end of the 2022/2023 school year.”
- Medium shot, participant typing on phone, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for WFP (UN World Food Programme): “By the end of 2021, the World Food Programme operation will reach up to 185,000 children. WFP will also invest in the rehabilitation of school canteens and training of school staff on food safety practices as a means of reaching the wider community.”
- Medium wide shot, participants sitting in Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for WFP (UN World Food Programme): “One out of three Venezuelans, which is about 32.3 per cent is food insecure today and they are in need of assistance. The signing allows the World Food Programme to set up a presence in Venezuela and to start our operation which is focusing on children and schools.”
- Medium wide shot, podium with speakers to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for WFP (UN World Food Programme): “There are some eight million children under the age of 14 in Venezuela. Our plan through a phased approach is to reach 1.5 million children by the end of the 2022/2023 academic year. This will cost us, it will cost WFP approximately 190 million to effectively start and mount an effective response.”
- Medium shot, journalist taking notes, Room XIV, Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for WFP (UN World Food Programme): “Our school meals programme are independent, they’ve always been and separate from any other interference. Not only in Venezuela, but elsewhere that we have worked.”
- Medium shot, spokesperson speaking on the podium, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, journalist sitting in front of laptop, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Wide medium shot, podium with speakers, side shot, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships confronting those in the devastated enclave, the UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
Dangers grow for Myanmar earthquake survivors, health system 'overwhelmed' - UNDP
In earthquake-shattered central Myanmar people are sleeping in the streets in fear of buildings collapsing, facing early monsoon rains and the risk of waterborne diseases, the UN Development Programme warned on Tuesday.