WFP Executive Director on peace and food security

(Vatican Radio) Over the past two years the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has had to face the challenge of four major food emergencies affecting the lives of those in Syria, South Sudan, the Philippines and the Central African Republic.

At the helm of WFP since April of 2012, Ertharin Cousin has seen at first hand the obstacles the humanitarian community faces in relieving hunger in the most inaccessible regions that have been affected by conflict.

The Executive Director has just returned from a visit to South Sudan with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. She said, “ordinary people are bearing the brunt of this conflict, and agencies like ours are facing far too many obstacles in trying to assist them. This must change. Lives are at stake.”

She also said, “women we met in Nyal who have been affected by the conflict asked us to convey three messages to the world: they need peace, assistance to relieve their suffering, and the chance for their children to return to school”.

Speaking to Lydia O’Kane, Ms Cousin underlined that fact peace is imperative to food security. “We can’t achieve food security, we can’t achieve economic opportunity without peace.”

She also said, that all the UN Food and Agriculture agencies were focused on meeting the food assistance needs of the most vulnerable in the world. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin