World Food Programme (Rome)
8 March 2004
press release
As the biggest provider of humanitarian assistance to women around the world, the United Nations World Food Programme has made "Putting women at the centre of food security" its theme for International Women's Day (IWD) 2004.
Of the 110 million people who received WFP food rations last year, around 70 percent were women and children. A family is more likely to eat properly if women are involved in food aid distributions. It is therefore vital that they play a key role in ensuring the fair distribution of food.
Through its global practice of targeting women as the key beneficiaries of food aid, WFP has tried to ensure that food gets to those who need it most. Based on more than 40 years' experience, WFP has found that when women are in control of food, their children have a better chance of growing up well-nourished, going to school and becoming productive members of society. This is a major way of breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger that traps some 800 million people around the world.
In many developing countries, women work from dawn to dusk to provide for their families. They often have sole responsibility for carrying out household tasks, from gathering, preparing and cooking food to fetching water and firewood. On top of this, they care for children and the sick - a burden that has grown dramatically with the spread of HIV/AIDS.
"Women often have to walk long distances to food aid distribution points. When they get there they may have to wait for hours. Then they carry home heavy sacks of food," said WFP Executive Director James T. Morris. "We must find ways of making their task easier, while ensuring that they remain at the centre of the process; in short, to empower women without overburdening them."
The annual IWD celebration held at WFP's headquarters in Rome - as well as at some of its regional and country offices - involves a debate by a panel of experts who will look at feasible solutions in response to the challenges faced by women both in stable and emergency situations.
Among the measures WFP is putting in place to ease the constraints faced by women beneficiaries are: issuing ration cards in women's names; locating distribution points as close as possible to women's homes; repackaging food in smaller quantities, particularly for those weakened by HIV/AIDS; consulting women on their views regarding distribution arrangements with particular regard to security; and informing beneficiaries about safe channels to report abuses linked to food distribution.
WFP's debate will also cover the UN theme for IWD 2004 - Gender and HIV/AIDS. It is now recognised that women and girls are more often the victims of HIV/AIDS. Firstly, they are physiologically more vulnerable to infection - male-to-female HIV-infection is estimated to be twice as likely as female-to-male. They are also frequently victims of forced sex. Across the world, between one fifth and one half of all girls and young women report that their first sexual encounter was forced.
Unequal access to education also makes women more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, which is one reason WFP promotes school feeding projects to draw more girls into schools. In some of the regions worst affected, surveys have shown that more than half of girls aged between 15 and 19 have either never heard of AIDS or have at least one major misconception about how the HIV virus is transmitted.
"Women bear an enormous burden due to HIV/AIDS. Not only are they more at risk of infection, they are frequently the main carers - whether they are elderly and looking after their orphaned grandchildren, or young girls obliged to take on the responsibility of heading their households," Morris said. "We must find ways to lighten this burden."
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