VIENTIANE – Eight fundraising champions of the 2010 World Hunger Relief campaign, organised by YUM! Brands, have seen for themselves the impact of their donations to the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) projects in Laos.

Restaurant managers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia travelled to Luangnamtha province to visit WFP school meals programmes. They also talked to women and health centre staff about the benefits of WFP’s nutrition education initiative Feeding the Future and its Mother and Child Health and Nutrition activities.

“Here in Laos, YUM! has contributed more than US$2 million to help WFP provide a daily mid-morning snack to primary school children in six provinces and to enable  WFP to expand Feeding the Future, a nutrition education project that has reached more than 100 villages and is still growing,” said Eri Kudo, WFP Representative in Lao PDR. “By providing children with the food they need to develop their physical and mental potential, these projects ensure that children receive an education and act as an important investment in breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger.”

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Photo: The YUM! delegation with WFP staff and villagers of the Lanten ethnic group in Ban Soptud, Luangnamtha. Photo Credit: WFP/Patricia Facultad

VIENTIANE – Nutrition is at the heart of the new Country Programme for Lao PDR approved by the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome during its Second Regular Session from 14 to 17 November 2011.

The Country Programme details WFP’s projects to fight malnutrition in Lao PDR in the years 2012 to 2015. The projects to improve the nutrition and food security of more than 750,000 men, women and children in the country will require US$69 million in funding to be fully implemented.

WFP is working to help Lao PDR become free from undernutrition and its debilitating impact on human potential and national development. WFP will work with partners in the Health, Education and Agriculture sectors to address the full range of factors affecting under-nutrition.

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PHOTO: Improving nutrition for mothers and young children is one of the central pillars of the new WFP Country Strategy in Lao PDR.  Credit: WFP/Annika Harald

24 October 2011, VIENTIANE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Lao PDR today welcomed a generous contribution of US$10 million over the next three years from the United States of America. The contribution, provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), will ensure that more than 152,000 schoolchildren continue to receive a nutritious snack every day they attend school. The food will support children in six provinces of Lao PDR to pursue their education.

For 2011, the U.S. contribution is delivered in the form of 1,610 metric tons of rice, 560 metric tons of vitamin and mineral fortified Super Cereal, and 110 metric tons of vegetable oil, with all transport cost to Laos covered by the donation. The oil and Super Cereal will be used by village cooks to prepare the daily snack for the school children, keeping hunger at bay. The rice will be given as a take-home ration to students who live far from the schools, and will benefit the entire family while providing an incentive for them to keep sending the students to school.  

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Photo: A pre-primary student in Oudomxay province is enjoying her mid-morning snack. Photo credit: WFP/Cornelia Paetz

Close to 700 families in Oudomxay this week received a total of LAK331 million (around US$41,000) from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on the successful completion of Cash for Assets projects that were implemented in close cooperation with the Oudomxay Department of Planning and Investment and the Lao Postal Service. In 15 villages across Beng and Hoon districts, communities worked together to create assets such as irrigation systems and gardens that improve their food and nutrition security in the long term. In return, they received not food assistance or monthly rations, but cash to allow them to meet some of their short-term food needs buying from local shops and markets.

“Where markets are functioning and close to the communities WFP assists, we try to distribute cash instead of food to give people the choice how to use their money to fulfil their immediate nutrition needs, said Ms Eri Kudo, WFP Representative in Lao PDR, in a statement. “To help people make a healthy choice WFP also provides nutrition education, giving people an opportunity to make their families’ diets more nutritious.”

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Photo: Cash for Assets participant in Namdor village receives his money after helping in the construction of an irrigation system. Photo credit: WFP/Sengpaseuth Simmanivong  

 

Today, U.S. Ambassador to the Lao PDR H.E. Ms Karen B. Stewart and Representative of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Lao PDR Ms Eri Kudo visited flood-stricken Khammuane Province to meet with provincial officials and observe the distribution of U.S.-funded food assistance to families affected by recent severe flooding.

The visit was joined by Mr. Prasith Dethphommatheth, Head of the National Disaster Management Office and Director General of the Social Welfare Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, and Mr Sengthong Phakhounthong, Chairman of the Provincial Assembly in Khammuane Province.  The mission travelled by boat to Phanang Village as roads to the village remain cut off by recent floods. In the community they observed the distribution of three month rations of rice and vegetable oil to villagers who lost their harvest to recent floods.

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Photo: US Ambassador to Laos Ms Karen Stewart shakes hands with Mr Sengthong Phakhounthong at a ceremony to hand over food in Phanang village, Mahaxay district, Khammuane province. Photo credit: Mike Pryor

Record-breaking sailor and Young Australian of the Year Jessica Watson today announced her support for the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) School Meals Programme in Laos, in her role as a Youth Representative for WFP.

In May last year, at the age of 16, Jessica became the youngest person to sail around the world non-stop and unassisted.

In partnership with the Lao Government’s Ministry of Education and Sport, the WFP-assisted School Meals Programme is implemented in 1,500 schools and supports close to 400,000 people, including more than 150,000 pre-primary and primary school children and their families in Phongsaly, Luangnamtha, Oudomxay, Saravane, Sekong and Attapeu provinces.

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Photo: Jessica watson is welcomed by residents in the village of Ban Na, Toomlarn district, Saravane province. Photo credit: WFP/Bart Verweij 

 

VIENTIANE – For the first time in Lao PDR, close to 1,000 primary school children will receive a healthy and balanced school lunch prepared from foods bought at their local market.  Their village schools are the first to participate in a new Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) project implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Government of Lao PDR. The pilot is generously supported by the Australian Government, who made funding available to conduct a baseline survey, support programme design and produce training materials.

During the past week, officials from the Lao Ministry of Education (MOE) have been trained on the principles of HGSF and healthy nutrition.  Activities will be piloted in nine villages across Phongsaly and Oudomxay provinces from March to May 2011.

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In Lao PDR, about 157,000 pre-primary and primary school students children living in remote villages benefit from the WFP-assisted school meals programme. Photo Credit: WFP/Cornelia Paetz