Addis Ababa — High-ranking officials from the World Bank and the United Nations World Food Programme met Wednesday and Thursday in Addis Ababa to strengthen their cooperation.

Participants looked at identifying concrete cooperation activities between the World Bank and WFB initially in Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia.

According to the press release sent to The Daily Monitor the World Bank and WFP cooperation will focus on food security, emergency operations, school feeding, nutrition and HIV/AIDS.

The initiative of strengthening the cooperation between the two organisations was taken by WFP Executive Director, Jim Morris and the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn at meeting in Washington in December 2002.

The World Bank and WFP agreed that targeted food aid can be an important tool in maintaining and enhancing the human capital of poor and vulnerable people in crisis, whether the origin of the crisis is conflict, natural disaster, or extreme poverty and vulnerability.

Food aid is to be provided in a way that minimizes market distortions and production disincentives.

The two organisations agreed that there were needs and opportunities for closer operational cooperation.

Where appropriate in the context of country needs and priorities, WFP food aid could become a more planned and integrated component of World Bank and other donor-supported national programs that address education, nutrition and nutrition-related health interventions including HIV-AIDS.