The World Food Programme is the largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide. It provides food assistance in emergencies to victims of war, conflict, and natural disasters, and helps communities rebuild after crises have passed. The WFP is voluntarily funded and 90% of donations directly support food assistance. In Bangladesh specifically, the WFP works to improve nutrition for mothers, children, and school-aged kids; supports disaster risk reduction and poverty reduction projects; assists refugees; and promotes rice fortification.

1. All About The World
Food Programme

2. The World Food Programme is the world's
largest humanitarian agency fighting
hunger worldwide. In emergencies, we get
food to where it is needed, saving the lives
of victims of war, civil conflict and natural
disasters. After the cause of an emergency
has passed, we use food to help communities
rebuild their shattered lives. WFP is part of
the United Nations system and is
voluntarily funded.

4. How Can you help?
Make A Donation
WFP is 100% voluntarily funded, so every donation counts. 90%
of every donation goes directly towards getting food to hungry
children and their families -- meaning you can make an
incredible impact. No matter what, your generosity is
immediately put to work.

5. How we work?
In emergencies, we get food to where it
is needed, saving the lives of victims of
war, civil conflict and natural disasters.
After the cause of an emergency has
passed, we use food to help
communities rebuild their shattered
lives.
Fighting hunger
worldwide
WFP is the UN's frontline agency in the
fight against hunger and the world's
largest humanitarian organisation.
Watch this short video to get an
overview of who we are, how we work
and the challenges we face:
https://www.wfp.org/videos/fighting-
hunger-worldwide

6. What are the current issues in
Bangladesh?
• Poverty and undernutrition: Despite economic
progress in Bangladesh, one-quarter to one-third
of the population lives in poverty and roughly
one-quarter cannot access sufficient safe and
nutritious food.
• Low educational attainment: While school
enrolment has improved in recent years, an
estimated 3.3 percent of 20 million primary
school-aged children remain out of school. Only
80 percent of children who start primary school
complete grade five.

7. What are the current issues in
Bangladesh?
Gender inequality
• Although the Government now subsidizes girls’
education, achieving gender equality remains a
challenge. There are significant disparities between
men and women in health, education and income.
More than two-thirds of girls marry before the age
of 18, and the likelihood of early pregnancy and
giving birth to an underweight baby is very high.
More than 20 percent of newborns have a low birth
weight.
Natural disasters
• Bangladesh’s susceptibility to floods, cyclones and
droughts presents significant threats to food
security and health. The impacts of natural
disasters on food availability, household
possessions, income and debt force the poorest to
adopt negative coping strategies, such as eating
less, withdrawing children from school and selling
productive assets. Waterborne parasitic and
bacterial diseases also contribute, through
malabsorption, to malnutrition.

8. What is the World Food Programme doing in
Bangladesh?
Improving maternal and child nutrition
• With community health workers, WFP provides supplementary feeding to mothers
and children in the poorest areas along with advice improving nutrition behaviour.
Moderately undernourished children aged 6-59 months, pregnant women and
nursing mothers receive specialist help and specialized nutritious foods fortified
with vitamins and minerals. (https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-
products )
• By taking action during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life – from conception to
two years of age - WFP helps to prevent nutrient deficits from hampering a child’s
development. Supporting cognitive and physical development at this early age has
benefits throughout life: it improves learning ability and future productivity, and
thus the child’s chances of escaping poverty.

9. • To help the Government of Bangladesh achieve universal primary education, WFP works with the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to provide nutritious food
to pre-primary and primary school children in disadvantaged areas. The National School Feeding Programme, launched in 2011 and based on the WFP model, helps
children in areas with high poverty and low primary-school completion rates to attend class and learn without feeling hungry. In 2015 this programme, with WFP’s
support, helped 2.5 million children. Concurrently, WFP provided food assistance to another 500,000 children in 4,300 schools.
• As well WFP, in partnership with the Government, launched a joint school meals initiative in 2013 which provides students with a fresh meal made from fortified rice
and oil, protein-rich pulses, and locally procured vegetables. This differs from the National School Feeding Programme, which offers micronutrient-fortified biscuits.
The joint-project meals are reaching 20,000 students and help local women as well: some work as cooks, while others sell their garden produce to WFP.
Feeding school
children

10. Preparing for disasters and the effects of climate change and
supporting the Government to reduce poverty
• Participants in community infrastructure projects in disaster-prone areas along the southern coastal belt and
major rivers are paid in cash by the Government and WFP. About 50,000 ultra-poor people participate – 70
percent of these women. The projects help mitigate the risk of floods and cyclones, and include local-level
planning with other community members to identify needs. The work involves building or repairing
embankments, roads, homesteads, and flood and cyclone shelters, as well as irrigation and drainage canals.
• WFP provides training and other support to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. The goal is to help
ultra-poor women and their families move out of extreme poverty and improve their food security and
nutritional status. WFP also helps the Government provide cash grants to women so they can start
businesses. A 2014 study by WFP with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) suggested
that providing a cash and nutrition education to ultra-poor women with small children can have a great
impact on reducing child stunting.

11. Assisting refugees and the
ultra-poor in Cox's Bazar
• WFP works with the Government, the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and NGOs to provide food assistance to
34,000 registered refugees from Myanmar living in
two official camps in Cox’s Bazar district on
Bangladesh’s south-east coast. Due to restrictions on
movement and employment, many refugees are highly
dependent on assistance.
• WFP provides an e-card that is refilled regularly and
allows registered refugees to buy food in the camps.
Pregnant and nursing women, young children and
school children also receive special food assistance.

12. Rice fortification
In Bangladesh, rice is the major
constituent of people’s daily diet. WFP
has been working with the Government
and private agencies to fortify rice with
essential vitamins and minerals to
reduce micronutrient deficiencies in
high-risk groups, such as women and
children. 500,000 people will receive
the rice in 2016 through a Government
food-based social safety net, through
WFP programmes, and by working with
the private sector.

13. World Food Programme partners in Bangladesh
WFP cannot fight global hunger and poverty alone. These are our partners in Bangladesh:
• The Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
• Ministry of Primary and Mass Education
• The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
• Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief
• Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

14. For more info, visit:
https://www.wfp.org &
https://www.wfp.org/countries/banglad
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