The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS , WFP
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: First Food Supplies For Venezuela - WFP
First food supplies to school children arrived in Venezuela, the UN World Food Programme announced
The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) has moved its first food supplies to its logistics hub in Maracaibo, Venezuela, as it prepares to launch its school meals programs for Venezuelan school children in the South American country, which is suffering a humanitarian crisis spurred by an economic collapse.
Speaking today at a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva, WFP’s spokesperson Tomson Phiri said that “following an agreement that was met earlier this year between the United Nations World Food Programme and the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela, the first of food supplies has now been delivered in Venezuela as WFP gears up to launch its school meals programmes for vulnerable school children and school employees in the country”.
WFP's work in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will focus on the provision of nutritious school meals, the rehabilitation of school canteens, and the training of school staff to observe and implement the highest food safety practices.
“WFP has moved the food supplies to its logistics hub in Maracaibo, Venezuela”, Tomson Phiri said. “As schools in Venezuela are currently closed, the World Food Programme will provide take-home rations that include rice, lentils, salt, and vegetable oil prioritizing school children under the age of 6 in areas most affected by food insecurity”.
The first 42,000 food packages which have arrived in Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city, will be distributed in the first month of the operation. WFP will manage its own supply chain, from purchasing food to distributing in schools.
“WFP aims to progressively reach up to 185, 000 children and school personnel by the end of this year and 1,5 million people by the end of the 2022/2023 academic year”, stated Mr. Phiri. He added that “each food package that will be going to be provided to these children includes 6 kilos of rice, 4 kilograms of lentils and 454 grams of iodate salt as well as 1 liter of vegetable oil. Each food ration totals a little more than 11 kg, that’s what will be provided to each child”.
Humanitarian aid groups had pressed Maduro for years to allow the WFP to distribute food in Venezuela before he acceded in April. Child malnutrition is on the rise in the once-prosperous OPEC nation.
-ends-
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a sunny day.
- Wide shot, podium with spokesperson in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “Following an agreement that was met earlier this year between the United Nations World Food Programme and the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela, the first of food supplies has now been delivered in Venezuela as WFP gears up to launch its school meals programms for vulnerable school children and school employees in the country”.
- Medium shot, cameraman
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “WFP has moved the food supplies to its logistics hub in Maracaibo, Venezuela. As schools in Venezuela are currently closed, the World Food Programme will provide take-home rations that include rice, lentils, salt, and vegetable oil prioritizing school children under the age of 6 in areas most affected by food insecurity”.
- Medium shot, journalist in room looking at the cellphone
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “WFP aims to progressively reach up to 185, 000 children and school personnel by the end of this year and 1,5 million people by the end of the 2022/2023 academic year”.
- Medium shot, journalist listening in room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “Each food package that will be going to be provided to these children includes 6 kilos of rice, 4 kilograms of lentils and 454 grams of iodate salt as well as 1 liter of vegetable oil. Each food ration totals a little more than 11 kg, that’s what will be provided to each child”.
- Wide shot, podium and screen
- Medium shot, journalist with laptop
- Medium shot, journalist listening
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
As fighting spreads across Sudan in a dangerous new escalation, "people are scared, people are fleeing their homes," the UN migration agency, IOM, said on Friday, noting that more than 50,000 people have fled attacks and violence since late October in Kordofan region alone.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Volker Türk the UN Human Rights High Commissioner made the following remarks during and Oral update tothe Human Rights Council intersessional meeting on Venezuela.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
New flu variant is surging, but vaccination still our best bet - WHO
Amid an early start to the Northern Hemisphere influenza season a new variant of the virus is rapidly gaining ground - but vaccination remains the “most effective defence”, the UN health agency said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
In Sudan, deep concerns persist for the many tens of thousands of people believed to still be trapped in the city of El Fasher in the Darfur region, but UN aid agencies believe they may soon get access to the embattled city.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Human rights are underfunded, under attack and undermined worldwide, but activism is still powerful, undeterred and mobilising, says UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Human Rights Day press conference
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza newborns ‘scarred by war before first breath’ by preventable maternal malnutrition: UNICEF
Starving mothers in Gaza are giving birth to underweight or premature babies who die in intensive care units or struggle to survive as they endure acute malnutrition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango delivered the following remarks on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
The humanitarian situation in northern Mozambique continues to deteriorate sharply as prolonged attacks by non-State armed groups in Nampula trigger one of the largest displacement surges of the year, the UN warned on Friday.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
The deadly legacy of conflicts old and new from Gaza to Sudan and beyond continues to kill and maim civilians on a near-daily basis, mine action workers said on Wednesday, as they appealed for greater support for their lifesaving work in a context of deep funding cuts.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNICEF
Asia: Lives upended in cyclone disasters, ‘extreme’ rainfall on the rise - UN agencies
Across southeast Asia, record-breaking rains and flooding caused by back-to-back tropical storms have claimed hundreds of lives and brought devastation and displacement upon entire communities, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in the Geneva on Friday the UN Human Rights Office raised grave concerns about the recent constitutional amendments adopted in Pakistan.