I recently went to the World Food Programme headquarters here in Rome - there was an Executive Board meeting this week. And here is a report of the opening event marked by some arresting statements, just published on Impakter:
In the photo: UN Special Envoy for Syria Briefs Press Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, speaks to journalists, following closed-door Security Council consultations on the crisis in Syria. 24 April 2015 United Nations, New York – Photo credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
First, Ms. Cousin’s speech. She listed for the Board (consisting of a number of delegates from member countries, designated on a rotating basis) the rising number of emergencies that WFP has to face. In 2014, there were eleven high-level emergencies (classified as L2 and L3 in the UN jargon), an all-time high. Indeed, the WFP is set in principle to handle three high-level emergencies at any one time – not eleven.
In the photo: SG Visits the
Philippines, Assesses UN Relief Efforts Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
visited Tacloban City, in the Leyte Province of the Philippines, to
assess the relief and rehabilitation efforts for the survivors of Super
Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. A resident of Tacloban surveys the damage and
debris left by the storm. – Photo credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider
Why is this happening?
The rest on Impakter, and in particular the extraordinary anecdote reported by the UN Special Envoy to Syria, read here.
The United Nations: The Reset and Syria’s St. Bernard
World Food Programme, Executive Board, 25 May 2015. This was a memorable day – the WFP Executive Director, Ms. Ertharin Cousin, made a highly remarked opening address, exclaiming: “the United Nations is 70 years old this year, it needs a reset!” And her guest of honour, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy to Syria, described his job as “mission (nearly) impossible”. In the photo: UN Special Envoy for Syria Briefs Press Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, speaks to journalists, following closed-door Security Council consultations on the crisis in Syria. 24 April 2015 United Nations, New York – Photo credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
First, Ms. Cousin’s speech. She listed for the Board (consisting of a number of delegates from member countries, designated on a rotating basis) the rising number of emergencies that WFP has to face. In 2014, there were eleven high-level emergencies (classified as L2 and L3 in the UN jargon), an all-time high. Indeed, the WFP is set in principle to handle three high-level emergencies at any one time – not eleven.
In the photo: SG Visits the
Philippines, Assesses UN Relief Efforts Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
visited Tacloban City, in the Leyte Province of the Philippines, to
assess the relief and rehabilitation efforts for the survivors of Super
Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. A resident of Tacloban surveys the damage and
debris left by the storm. – Photo credit: UN Photo/Evan SchneiderWhy is this happening?
The rest on Impakter, and in particular the extraordinary anecdote reported by the UN Special Envoy to Syria, read here.
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