Two years ago, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2417, a resolution recognizing the link between hunger and war. But two years later, too little has changed.
For this episode, we sat down with Matthew Hollingworth, United Nations World Food Programme's country director in South Sudan to reflect on the significance of the resolution and discuss the impact that the new coronavirus pandemic might have on peace and security globally.
How much of an impact on developing economies will COVID-19 really have? Why will food systems change prevent dire impacts from happening in the future? On this episode of Hacking Hunger, we talk to Johan Swinnen, a top economist and currently director general of The International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC.
Three months after Barron Segar joined WFP USA as president and CEO, disaster struck. COVID-19 hit and uprooted life as we knew, forcing Barron and WFP USA leadership to reimagine many of their plans. Barron is no stranger to crisis, so we sat down with him to ask about his background, goals and leading in the time of COVID-19.
As the COVID-19 spreads, innovation and technology is needed more to reach people in need. In this episode of Hacking Hunger, Bernhard Kowatsch, head of WFP's Innovation Accelerator, explains how the program is working to support WFP's pandemic response.
Danielle Nierenberg is a world-renowned researcher, speaker and advocate, she’s spent her career fighting for food-systems change and is an expert on all things food and ag. On this episode, we talk to Danielle about her background, her current organization, Food Tank, and how COVID-19 will affect food systems going forward.
In the early 1990s, Abdi Nor Iftin was a child. Just like other children across the globe, he loved playing outdoors, bickered with his brother and dreamed of being a Hollywood star. Unlike most other children, however, Abdi was starving – simply because he was living in Somalia during a time of drought and civil war.
Abdi lived through the unthinkable, but he was one of the fortunate ones; he survived. Rescued from the brink by perseverance, luck and humanitarian aid, he’s now a successful author living in the U.S. with a story he’s eager to tell.
“I want the world to know both what I went through and how I was helped,” Abdi says. “Maybe then, we can prevent these tragedies from happening again.
In the last few years, Mohammed Ghanim has become all too familiar with the struggles of war. A program officer for WFP, Mohammed lives and works in Yemen, site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. He is also from Yemen, born and raised – and like every other Yemeni, he has not been immune to the consequences of conflict. Yet, despite the tremendous hardship he continues to face, Mohammed remains dedicated to helping his neighbors in urgent need.
Inspired his commitment, we asked Mohammed about the reality of living in Yemen during difficult time, how WFP is working to help, and how he finds hope for his country’s future, even in the middle of war.
When Ebola spread through Western Africa in 2014, it killed more than 11,000 people. Now it’s back – and the Democratic Republic of Congo is at its epicenter in a critical phase. We spoke to Jacques David, WFP communications officer, at how WFP is helping fight ebola with food.
The tale of the Dry Corridor is one that’s becoming all too familiar. It’s one of extreme weather and desperation, hunger, drought and rain.
The Dry Corridor is the nickname given to a region in Central America that’s been suffering from erratic weather patterns fueled by climate change. For the past five years, it’s been devastating crops, and driving migration and hunger.
In this podcast, we spoke with Elio Rujano, a WFP communications officer based in Panama. He has witnessed firsthand the impact climate change is having on families in the Dry Corridor who are already struggling to survive.