The UN World Food Programme (WFP) says food aid will be needed for victims of a devastating earthquake today in Nepal. The 7.9 magnitude quake has caused thousands of casualties and destroyed buildings and homes.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Nepal: CRS prepares response to massive earthquake
A massive earthquake struck Nepal and parts of India today. Early reports show hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries and severe damage to buildings, homes and transportation routes.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger
Eisenhower’s Food for Peace at work in Ukraine
The war in the Ukraine has created a hunger emergency for thousands of civilians. A program started way back by President Dwight Eisenhower has started coming to the rescue.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger
Yarmouk: an update on the hunger emergency
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said today it’s still desperately trying to gain access to the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. The camp, home to Palestinian refugees, has been caught in the crossfire of the Syrian Civil War
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger
Oxfam warns about South Sudan crisis
The charity Oxfam is warning that South Sudan has reached a breaking point as conflict and a collapsed economy take their toll. A severe hunger crisis could threaten over 3 million people by June.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger
CRS, Good Shepherd Sisters help Syrian refugees in Lebanon
The Bekaa Valley in Lebanon lies near the border with Syria. It was once a part of the Roman Empire. Today, this valley is one of the escape routes for Syrians fleeing the brutal civil war in their country.
Over one million Syrians have fled into Lebanon, many residing now in the Bekaa Valley. Life is hard for these refugees, who have lost everything.
They are hungry, cold and living through some terrible winters. Even though they have escaped the Syrian battlefield, the shock of war is still with them. They need the helping hand of charity.
Syrians at the Deir al Ahmar informal tented settlements are finding this comfort with the Good Shepherd Sisters and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The Good Shepherd Sisters run a center for children which provides education and trauma counseling four days a week. Working with CRS, they also provide shelter materials, blankets, heaters and other critical supplies to people living in the camp.
CRS and the Good Shepherd Sisters are feeding 350 children a hot meal each day the center holds classes. This extra meal for children makes a world of difference in keeping malnutrition away.
They are also providing 360 families with food packages. The goal is to expand this food program to reach over 3000 individuals. The food is obtained from nearby suppliers, thus helping the local economy.
CRS and the Good Shepherd Sisters plan to adapt the food package program to a voucher-based plan. This will allow families to purchase their own food at local markets.
Food vouchers give families flexibility into what foods they can obtain. It’s another step toward normalcy, which has been tragically lost for these families in the midst of the war.
Private donations are funding CRS and the Good Shepherd Sisters in their humanitarian work in Lebanon. You can help them by contacting CRS headquarters.
Filed under global hunger
Learn about hunger in your congressional district
A new, interactive map by Feeding America lets you find out the rate of hunger in your state, county and congressional district. The Map the Meal Gap 2015 lets you see where hunger resides in America.
Read the article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
How everyone with a smartphone can feed a hungry child
If you own a smartphone you can download the Charity Miles app and raise donations for the World Food Programme, the largest hunger relief organization. You do this simply by running, walking or biking. You carry the smartphone with you and the app keeps track of your distance and workout.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger
WFP, Norwegian charity come to the rescue in Iraq
The war in Iraq has left many civilians trapped and blocked from receiving humanitarian aid. Such was the case in al-Baghdadi, a town in the Anbar governorate of Iraq.
The town was under siege for months by the ISIL terrorists. The Iraqi army, in retaking the town, cleared the way last month for civilians to escape to Baghdad.
But now these Iraqi victims faced another crisis: hunger. Saker, one of those who fled from al-Baghdadi, said,
The militants shot at us and they shot our houses. We walked for four days to get to Baghdad. We left with only our souls. We are very poor, and don’t have money to buy food.”
In Baghdad, Saker and others would get help from the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Along with the Norwegian Refugee Council, WFP distributed immediate response rations for Saker and 18,000 Iraqis.
These rations are ready-to-eat food, packed with nutrients, to give newly displaced Iraqis some quick nutrition. This food does more too. The rations give some hope for those Iraqis who have suffered for months from hunger and fear while under attack by ISIL.
After immediate response rations are finished, WFP provides monthly food parcels to displaced Iraqis. This is when they are registered and settled enough to eat more prepared foods.
Saker told WFP the food csme at the most critical moment. That is the case for millions of Iraqis who are depending on WFP and their partners like the Norwegian Refugee Council for life-saving rations.
Yet these rations, which do so much good, might disappear. Low funding for the WFP mission could lead to 1.8 million Iraqis losing food assistance by May. A WFP report says there is a shortage of US $250 million for the Iraqi relief mission.
WFP depends on voluntary funding to do their life-saving work. With the conflict ongoing in Iraq, funds are needed from the international community to feed the hungry war victims.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger
Congress must hear the cries of hunger from abroad
As Congress debates the foreign aid budget, they should hear the cries of hunger from abroad. They should also listen to the echoes of history.
In fact, one of these came at a recent congressional hearing on the foreign aid budget, which included activists Ben Affleck and Bill Gates. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) mentioned the 1948 Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Europe and won the peace after World War II.
Read my full commentary at The Huffington Post.
Filed under global hunger
Author William Lambers 