WASHINGTON, DC, May 22, 2013 — Bread for the World Institute and Concern Worldwide U.S. will host an international meeting for civil society leaders on maternal and child nutrition on Monday, June 10, 2013 in Washington, D.C. This meeting will garner political support for commitments made at “Nutrition for Growth,” a pledge conference to be held in London on June 8. Rajiv Shah, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will serve as the keynote speaker for the international meeting.

WFP’s school meals programme has benefitted millions of school children across Ethiopia over the last 19 years and currently serves some 650,000 students in 1,800 schools in different parts of the country. Fatuma is one of those children.

Gewane, ETHIOPIA – A daily round trip of three hours along a dusty road might not appeal to many, but for schoolgirl Fatuma Hamedu, the journey shows just how committed she is to changing her life.

“I travel this distance every day,” says Fatuma. “I do it to learn but also so I can eat.”

Appeal target (current): 503,659 Swiss francs

Appeal coverage: 51 per cent;

Appeal history:

 This Emergency Appeal was launched on 14 March 2012 for 503,659 Swiss francs to assist 2,000 families (10,000 beneficiaries) for 6 months.

 Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF): 116,138 Swiss francs were initially allocated from the Federation’s DREF to support the Bolivian Red Cross (BRC) to respond.

At the 38th formal meeting of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict on Monday, Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict briefed on her visit to Chad where she was able to reconfirm the commitment and determination of the Chadian authorities to fully implement the Action Plan to end the recruitment and use of children in the country’s national army.

Testimony, Donald Y. Yamamoto
Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs
Opening Statement
Washington, DC
May 21, 2013

[Before the House Subcommittees on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights; International Organizations; Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade; Middle East and North Africa]

NAIROBI , May 22 2013 (IPS) - Amid warnings that Kenya’s agricultural water use is surpassing sustainable levels and adversely affecting food security, biodiversity researchers say that agrobiodiversity should be considered as a vital tool to combat this.

“In order to feed the nation, the country must explore agrobiodiversity, specifically (the growing of) vegetables and fruits, which have been neglected in favour of maize,” Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, a professor of horticulture at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, told IPS.

Embassy of Egypt in Mali presented the necessary medical equipment for the preterm infants unit at the Maternity and Children Hospital that is adding five incubators to increase the unit capacity, thus culminating the efforts of the secretariat of the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

BEIJING –The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced a new partnership with HNA Group – a leading China-based corporation - to fight hunger globally.

A US$1.6 million agreement (10 million RMB) between HNA Group and WFP was signed today in Beijing by WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin and HNA Group Chairman Chen Feng. The funds will help WFP provide take-home rations to promote girls’ education under its school meals programme in Ghana.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Population movement – refugee numbers in the region continue to increase. Since May 1, there were more than 76,000 new refugees; at least 75% of those registered are women and children.

• Operational – Jordanian Ministry of Health and Interior Ministries agreed to relocation of new arrivals registration to Raba Sahan; health screening including immunization will occur here thus enhancing vaccination activities for new arrivals. In Lebanon, coordination skills training sessions was organized by UNHCR and OCHA on May 9.