Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein today made her first field visit as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations World Food Programme, meeting some of the nearly 5 million people in Malawi threatened by severe food shortages and witnessing their struggle for survival.
During her one-day visit, Princess Haya attended a food distribution in Chiradzulu District, one of the hardest-hit in the south, and visited Malawi’s biggest hospital, where mothers bring their children for treatment, often walking miles in the hope of rescuing them from life- threatening malnutrition.
“I have talked to several families who are receiving assistance from WFP, but the people of Chiradzulu are fighting silently for their survival, and I hope that my visit today will help carry their voice to my part of the world and beyond,” said Princess Haya.
WFP is assisting more than 225,000 people in Chiradzulu, or 80% of the population. But because of extreme poverty and the ravages of HIV/AIDS, people are unable to find alternative sources of food and this year’s bad harvest has triggered unusually high malnutrition rates.
In Chiradzulu District, Princess Haya also visited a primary school that has served as a distribution point since August for hundreds of food insecure families, which each month receive a ration of 50 kilograms of maize, 10 kilograms of pulses and a litre of oil.
More than 900 students at the school are included in an emergency school feeding programme, which will start in January and will double the number of children being reached nationally. The programme with help reduce the significant numbers of school dropouts caused by hunger.
“Poverty is often only a file on someone’s desk until they are confronted with its realities,” said Princess Haya. “It is unforgivable that, in this day and age, people are still living under such dire circumstances and are suffering from extreme hunger and poverty.”
The newly appointed WFP Goodwill Ambassador also visited Moyo House, Malawi’s largest therapeutic feeding centre, where severely malnourished children receive treatment and food aid. “These children are fighting for their lives, and what stands between them and death is a nutritious meal that their mothers cannot afford, but we certainly can,” Princess Haya said.
WFP’s mission also involves providing food aid so that other children never reach the stage of acute or severe malnourishment where they need to be taken to facilities such as Moyo House.
“The so-called ‘lean season’ in Malawi is the worst time of year since hunger continues from January until the harvest in March. Even if we have a good harvest, poverty and HIV/AIDS continue to threaten livelihoods for years,” said Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director in Malawi.
“The fact that Princess Haya chose Malawi for her first field visit is very significant to remind the world that the chronic food crisis in Southern Africa needs continuous support until longer-term solutions are found,” he said.
“Until then, emerging donors for WFP can make a big difference, and one of the best examples are the Gulf States, which provided WFP with US$26 million over the past three years.”
WFP currently faces a shortfall of US$25 million for its operation in Malawi, and urgently needs vital commodities such as corn-soya blend and vegetable oil for the months ahead.
Princess Haya was appointed a WFP Goodwill Ambassador in October, and is the first Arab and the first woman to take up this position. Her appointment was supported by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, making her the second Goodwill Ambassador ever for WFP.
Princess Haya also established the first food aid NGO in the Arab world, “Tkiyet Um Ali” -- a unique initiative she founded in Jordan to provide food aid and social services to the poor.
# # #
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 61 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries. WFP -- We Feed People.
Visit our website: www.wfp.org
For media inquires, please contact:
Stephanie Savariaud, WFP/ Blantyre, Mobile +265 956 7975
Tarek Shayya, WFP/Dubai, Tel. +971 4 3681383, Mobile +971506561046
Khaled Mansour, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +2012-234-8671, Mobile +20-122348671
Brenda Barton, Deputy Director Communications, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39-06-65132602, Mob. +39-3472582217
Christiane Berthiaume, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41-22-9178564, Mob. +41-792857304
Trevor Rowe, WFP/New York, Tel. +1-212-9635196, Mob. +1-6468241112, [email protected]
Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel. +44-20-75929292, Mob. +44-7968-008474
