Dhaka, 23 October 2009: Staffan de Mistura, the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will arrive in Dhaka tomorrow on a three-day official visit.  | | Bangladesh is widely recognised as one of the countries most susceptible to the effects of climate-change. WFP has been assisting the government in climate change adaptation activities long before the term was even coined, making us natural adaptation partners. Over the last 35 years this partnership has built 43,000km of roads and embankments, excavated 4000kms of irrigation canals and planted in excess of 38 million trees |  | | John Aylieff, WFP Representative, Bangladesh |
The purpose of de Mistura’s visit is to meet with the Government and the donor community and discuss how best WFP can support the Government’s efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals and address the most pressing development challenges, including the effects of climate change and high levels of malnutrition. Both issues are having a crippling affect on the estimated 61 million people living in poverty and which struggle to meet their basic food requirements on a daily basis. In announcing the visit, the WFP Bangladesh Representative John Aylieff, drew attention to the challenge that the Government and others have in addressing the affects of malnutrition in the country. “3 million children are acutely malnourished and 41% of children under 5 are underweight. At a time when Bangladesh has experienced high levels of economic growth, the acute malnutrition rate has risen progressively and is now above the WHO emergency threshold. Working with the Government and other partners, WFP will contribute to bringing both acute, chronic and micronutrient malnutrition down for good.” said Aylieff De Mistura visits Bangladesh at a significant time in WFP’s 35 year history in country, as the UN agency embarks on a process to develop a new country strategy to address the effects of food insecurity in the country. It is expected that WFP will build its new strategy around a vision that includes, a focus on livelihoods, an expanded school feeding programme, a high emphasis on nutrition focussed programmes as well as assisting the population prepare and cope with the effects of climate change. “Bangladesh is widely recognised as one of the countries most susceptible to the effects of climate-change. WFP has been assisting the government in climate change adaptation activities long before the term was even coined, making us natural adaptation partners. Over the last 35 years this partnership has built 43,000km of roads and embankments, excavated 4000kms of irrigation canals and planted in excess of 38 million trees” said Aylieff. While in Bangladesh, de Mistura will visit both Gaibanda and Jamalpur to see first-hand how WFP activities are assisting over 5 million beneficiaries with a range of innovative programmes. De Mistura will visit programmes including School Feeding, Climate Change Adaptation schemes and Community Nutrition projects which target the most vulnerable. Since 1974, WFP has been managing food aid activities in Bangladesh. The current country programme and emergency operations aim to achieve sustainable improvements in food security and nutrition for ultra-poor households through a number of strategic interventions. In 2008 WFP reached over 5.3 million ultra-poor people throughout Bangladesh. |
