UN food agency and China boost partnership against global hunger

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Beijing Government have boosted their partnership aimed at helping China and the world to address hunger.

“While the world has changed since WFP and China first began to collaborate almost 30 years ago, our goals remain: poverty reduction and the eradication of hunger,” said John Powell, WFP Deputy Executive Director.

“PuttChina’s knowledge, personnel, experience, and resources at the service of the UN’s largest humanitarian organization offers an opportunity for China to improve the lives of even more people and countries,” said Niu Dun, Vice Minister of Agriculture.

WFP concluded its traditional, large-scale food assistance programmes to China at the end of 2005 in recognition of the country’s rapid progress in achieving food security.

New projects include efforts to increase the participation of Chinese suppliers in WFP’s international tenders for food, goods and services aiming to save costs by procuring more goods directly in China, cutting out traders and import fees.

Later this month, a mission from WFP headquarters will visit Beijing to discuss how to do this better while maintaining the high standards of quality its operations require.

“Just as WFP can offer China some of its best technology and expertise tested in other countries, so can China’s assistance be spread even further by entrusting it to a multilateral institution. “ Mr. Powell pointed out.

Since 2000 the Chinese Government has committed nearly $13.5 million for WFP’s work elsewhere in the world, the bulk of the funding going to Africa.