UNGIS

The World Food Programme (WFP) was established in 1961 by the General Assembly and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference as the UN System's food aid organisation. The WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency  fighting hunger worldwide.

In 2008, WFP was transformed from a food aid organisation to a food assistance organisation. WFP's five goals in facing up to the global hunger challenges are to:

• Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies
• Prevent acute hunger and invest in disaster preparedness and mitigation
• Restore and rebuild lives and livelihoods after wars and disasters
• Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition
• Strengthen the ability of nations to curb hunger.

The Programme also administers the International Emergency Food Reserve (IEFR), established by the General Assembly with a minimum target of 500,000 tonnes of cereals.

In 2010, donors contributed $3.82 billion. All contributions to the Programme are on a voluntary basis. WFP provided food for 109.2 million people in 75 countries in 2010, delivering 4.6 million tons of food.