History
of Agency in the World and Iran
In
November/December 1961, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN
General Assembly adopted parallel resolutions establishing the World Food Programme (WFP). The three-year experimental programme was not due to enter into operation until January
1963. In reality it was up and running several months early, as an earthquake
hit Iran, a hurricane swept through Thailand and newly independent Algeria was
overwhelmed by five million returning refugees. Food aid was needed urgently
and WFP was tasked to supply it.
Ever
since its foundation in 1963, WFP headquarters has been based in Rome, Italy.
WFP fights hunger in least-developed and low-income countries where victims of
natural disasters, refugees, displaced people and the hungry poor face severe
food shortages. The frontline stretches from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle
East to Latin America and Asia Pacific.
In
2009, WFP aims to feed around 100 million people in 77 countries.
The
first ever WFP assisted emergency operation in Iran was directed to the victims
of the earthquake which killed more than 12,000 people in the area of Boein Zahra, Iran in September 1962. WFP first opened an
office in Iran in 1971 and was active in several projects concerning food
assistance until 1979. Upon the request of the Government, WFP resumed
activities in 1987 by providing food assistance to Afghan refugees and later to
Iraqi refugees.
Priorities
Globally and in Iran
WFP
is the food aid arm of the United Nations system. Food aid is one of the many
instruments that can help to promote food security, which is defined as access
of all people at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life.
The policies governing the use of World Food Programme
food aid must be oriented towards the objective of eradicating hunger and
poverty. The ultimate objective of food aid should be the elimination of the
need for food aid.
WFP strategic objectives are:
•
Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies;
•
Prevent acute hunger and invest in disaster preparedness and mitigation
measures;
•
Restore and rebuild lives and livelihoods in post conflict, post-disaster or
transition;
•
Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition; and
•
Strengthen the capacities of countries to reduce hunger, including through
hand-over strategies and local purchase.
Main
projects/activities in Iran
WFP
is providing food assistance and education incentive for Afghan and Iraqi
refugees in the Islamic Republic of Iran through a Protracted Relief and
Recovery Programme (PRRO).
The
food basket currently provided consists of wheat flour, rice, sugar, oil and
pulses and is distributed on a monthly basis to up to 38,000 Afghan and Iraqi
refugees living in 16 settlements.
Under this programme,
approximately 2,500 refugee schoolgirls attending primary and secondary schools
and 190 female teachers will receive 4 kg of vegetable oil per month as an
education incentive.
WFP
has assisted in emergency operations (EMOP) in Iran, the last of which was in
December 2003 when a massive earthquake measuring 6.3 on the scale of Richter
struck the historic city of Bam in Kerman province, in the Southeast of Iran.
WFP provided emergency food assistance to up to 100,000 needy people who were
living in Bam and its surrounding villages within a radius of 16 km. The
assistance was planned for a period of three months, during which time the
beneficiaries were able to gradually re-establish their livelihoods or find
other sources of support.
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Address: United Nations
Building No.8, Shahrzad Blvd., Darrous,
Tehran, Iran, P.O. Box 15875/4557 Tel: (98-21) 2286 7640/
2286 7480 / 2286 3499 Facsimile: (98-21) 2286
3211
E-mail: wfp.tehran@wfp.org website: www.wfp.org |