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-
Similar Stories
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
More Gazans killed trying to get food, healthcare near to ‘full disaster’
Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed time and again by scores of patients killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
La situation en République démocratique du Congo est aujourd’hui encore plus grave et alarmante, a averti lundi le Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme Volker Türk.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in some 60 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
As diplomatic efforts continue to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN development agency (UNDP) issued an appeal on Friday on behalf of people uprooted by the violence to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The very real risk of famine continues to stalk Sudan’s communities impacted by war, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in an appeal for more funding to support immediate needs and boost longer-term recovery across the country.
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
What can each one of us do to save the planet, asks Yann Arthus-Bertrand on World Environment Day
The last documentary film of legendary nature photographer, documentary director and environmental activist “Nature: The Call for Reconciliation” looks for an answer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians
Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA
As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.