As the food aid arm of the United Nations, the World Food Program has a central role in preparing for, coordinating and delivering food assistance in emergency situations. In 1995, WFP targeted over 35 million beneficiaries through 77 ongoing relief operations. This included emergency operations (EMOPs), and protracted refugee and internally displaced persons operations (PROs/PDPOs), some of which were approved in 1995 and others which were approved in earlier years.
Food mobilized in 1995 as of mid-October amounted to over 1.3 million metric tons, valued at US $735 million including commodity, transport, delivery and related monitoring and logistics costs. In 1994, WFP targeted just under 34 million beneficiaries under 79 ongoing relief operations, delivering some 2 million metric tons valued at just under US $ 1 billion. Contributions pledged by donor governments were channeled through the IEFR, PRQ IRA and SEO funding categories described in further detail in this document.
The Role of WFP in Emergencies
WFP has multiple roles in emergency situations and in assisting those directly in need, including:
Preparing for emergencies;
Assessing relief requirements;
Assessing and improving logistics and transport capacity where necessary to facilitate the delivery of food supplies;
Promoting the transition from relief to development;
Disseminating information.
Preparing for Emergencies and the Link with Rehabilitation and Development
The rapid onset of massive new emergencies, such as the Rwanda crisis, highlights the urgency to give greater emphasis to early warning and prevention/preparedness measures, while promoting a more effective utilization of available relief resources. These efforts require not only more carefully planned and timely relief responses, but also in-depth consideration of the long-term consequences of relief interventions, including the critical link with rehabilitation and development. For slow-onset emergencies, early and well-targeted interventions can considerably reduce the severity of the emergency and lead to considerable cost savings.
WFP is pursuing a variety of preparedness measures from vulnerability analysis and mapping (YAM) global early warning systems and scenario-based contingency planning to securing access to the necessary financial food human and equipment inputs ahead of time. At the same time, the program is upgrading emergency management processes through improved assessment and planning, procedures and systems and in-house response capability.
In bringing food to victims of emergencies, WFP also addresses the qualitative aspects of operations, such as 1) beneficiary participation in design and implementation; 2) sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable groups, especially women; 3) health and nutritional services; and 4) long-term food security activities. In the interests of post-emergency recovery, WFP aims to use food aid, not only to ensure the nutritional objective of providing affected people food to eat in the short term, but also to support economic activities to encourage long-term food-security, self sufficiency and the ability to protect or build productive assets.
Examples include:
Strengthening opportunities for women, typically the food providers and preparers of households, is the key to addressing problems of hunger and poverty. WFP has made specific commitments to improving the conditions of women and children, who are affected disproportionately in emergency situations, and is currently exploring a variety of ways to implement them.
WFP food aid, by creating or preserving assets, facilitates the transition to household food security for refugees and displaced persons either during the repatriation phase or-for protracted emergencies-through a gradual social and economic integration into the host population.
Using local democratic structures for targeting and distribution of WFP food creates a nucleus for strengthening community responsibilities for future development activities.
WFP's special logistics operations, such as port and rail improvement projects, are designed to facilitate eventual reconstruction and development activities of other donors and agencies.
Assessing Relief Requirements and Delivery Capacity
WFP's role in responding to emergencies starts with assessments of food aid and related requirements. Assessments are implemented together with partner agencies including UNHCR for refugee emergencies, FAO in the case of natural disasters, and other agencies including NGOs as appropriate for emergencies involving internally displaced persons- usually coordinated by DHA in the case of complex emergencies. WFP also undertakes delivery capacity assessments, and activities aimed at improving logistics and transport capacities where necessary to facilitate the delivery of food supplies. Examples include: the Regional Logistics Advisory Centre during the 1992 Southern Africa drought, the Caucasus Port and Rail project, the Mogadishu rehabilitation project and the Tanzania Rail project. For all assessments, donors and NGOs may be asked to participate. For longer-term emergencies and protracted refugee operations, assessments are repeated to monitor changes in requirements and adjust WFP's response strategy.
Exercising Advocacy
As part of its mission, WFP not only plays a major part in assessing the emergency food needs following disasters but in following through with the donor community with regard to mobilization of the necessary food resources to cover these emergency requirements. This is done through appeals, donor meetings and other forums and through reporting. It is immaterial whether such food aid is channeled through WFP or not, the essential point being that the program determines the target groups that will need food aid in order to survive or maintain their nutritional status. The donor community invariably makes its decisions either on the basis of humanitarian criteria or sometimes political, commercial or other considerations. The World Food Program needs to ensure that the humanitarian considerations are properly understood and acted upon, even if political and commercial factors may play either a positive or negative role in taking decisions. The advocacy would cover not only the quantities and food basket required to meet emergency requirements, but could include recommendations with regard to supplementary and therapeutic feeding, as well as proposals with regard to transport and logistics that would need to be improved to permit the food assistance to be delivered and distributed.
Coordinating Relief Food Requirement
WFP's role in emergencies includes the coordination of food aid from all sources, including food contributed bilaterally and through NGOs. This coordination function covers aspects related to beneficiaries, food levels and logistics. WFP advises partners on beneficiary requirements and the appropriate allocation of food, including that which is provided through WFP and other channels. In the area of logistics, WFP tries to ensure that the available logistics capacity is used to the fullest extent possible. With respect to food aid information at the start of an emergency, WFP establishes information systems that collect, analyze and disseminate food aid data to ensure that recipient authorities, donors, agencies and NGOs are regularly updated on overall food aid needs and all food aid contributions scheduled to meet those needs. This data on the overall food aid outlook for an emergency will highlight potential situations of food aid shortage or oversupply, and enable corrective action to be taken in good time. WFP's food aid information systems also highlight potential logistical bottlenecks such as can occur if too many donor shipments are scheduled to arrive at a single port. On a global level, WFP regularly updates the donor community with estimates by country of overall emergency food aid needs and shortfalls.
Mobilization of Food and Cash
Having assessed the overall food aid needs, logistics and staffing requirements, WFP 's next task is to mobilize the assistance that is required. WFP aims at meeting all food aid requirements in the case of refugee situations (for caseloads of over 5,000 beneficiaries)-in persons situations (while only part of the reaccordance with its Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR) and internally displaced, targeted in the case of natural disasters-depending on the expected level of direct food aid between donors and recipient governments.
Purchase, Transport, Distribution, Monitoring and Reporting
WFP delivers more emergency food aid than any other organization. Contributions which are pledged to WFP are either purchased and/ or delivered depending on whether in cash or in kind. Approximately 50 percent of all food handled is purchased. WFP purchases locally, regionally, and internationally through a tendering process. Food is transported by sea and overland by truck and rail, or if needed, by air. WFP delivers food at extended delivery points (as close as possible to the final destination) from where distribution is carried out by collaborating agencies, including UNHCR and/or nongovernmental organizations. An increasing emphasis is given to performance indicators and monitoring in WFP emergency operations to make sure that food aid reaches the intended beneficiaries and that losses or diversions are minimized, as well as reporting on the utilization of assistance provided.
Sharing of Information
WFP has an important role to play in the dissemination of information to donors and other partner agencies on overall food aid requirements throughout the duration of an emergency. The initial requirements are communicated through UNDHA appeals for complex emergencies and through specific WFP appeals for other emergencies.
Donors are kept informed of the response and changing situation on a continuous basis through regular reports, including the report on the Resourcing Situation of Major Relief Operations, headquarters and field level donor meetings and a weekly emergency report. This and other information will also become accessible on the WFP World Wide Web Home Page site on the Internet.
