Founded in 1961, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency saving and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working to improve nutrition and build resilience. Against the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, climate shocks and an unprecedented number of violent conflicts since World War 2, food insecurity is reaching record levels on all continents. Early 2023, up to 345.2 million people are projected to be food insecure – more than double the number in 2020. Famine-like conditions remain a real possibility for 43.3 million people in 51 countries facing emergency or catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, against 45 million people in 43 countries in 2021. In 2022, WFP’s partners provided a record level of funding of USD 14.2 billion dedicated to implementing the largest response in the history of the organization to fight the global food crisis esp. in nine hunger hotspots (Afghanistan, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen). Until root causes are addressed, the emergency goes on.

Switzerland focuses its support to WFP operations in its own priority countries through annual contributions softly earmarked to WFP offices and related Country Strategic Plans (CSPs).

WFP’s mission is a world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life.

The vision for 2030 underlying WFP’s strategic plan for 2022-2025 is that the world has eradicated food insecurity and malnutrition (SDG 2 - Zero Hunger) and national and global actors have achieved the SDGs (SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals). 

The overall goal of WFP is providing immediate food assistance in life-threatening situations while supporting countries in ensuring no one is left behind.

1. People are better able to meet their urgent food and nutrition needs. 
2. People have better nutrition, health and education outcomes. 
3. People have improved and sustainable livelihoods.
4. National programmes and systems are strengthened. 
5. Humanitarian and development actors are more efficient and effective.

Risultati principali attesi:   WFP fights hunger in 82 least-developed and lowincome countries where victims of conflicts and natural disasters, refugees, displaced people and the hungry poor face severe food shortages.

Risultati fasi precedenti:  

• In 2020, WFP surged operations against the COVID 19 pandemic that pushed 124 million people into extreme poverty; it provided assistance to 115 million people in 84 countries (53%♀; 20% 0-6 year old). It maintained efficient assistance and dignity of assisted people through delivery of USD 2.1 billion of cash-based and voucher assistance (28% of assisted people). Strengthened social protection systems in 78 countries.
• WFP is the laureate of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize "for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war".
• Despite the record level of funding, the vast needs resulted in a 2022 funding gap against approved requirements of 34 percent, equal to USD 7.2 billion. This is the largest funding gap registered in WFP’s history in absolute terms. All prospects confirm that requirements will only keep increasing.
• WFP leads or co-leads humanitarian response and provides services such as the UN Air Service (UNHAS), UN Humanitarian Response Depots network (UNHRD) as well as the three Inter-Agency Standing Committee Clusters (Logistics, Emergency Telecommunications and Food Security Cluster, with FAO).

Fase 2 01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023   (Completed)