Cairo, Egypt – As high food prices plunge thousands of people further into poverty, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Egypt, together with its major corporate partner, TNT, will host a global walk against child hunger on Sunday, 1 June 2008, “End Hunger: Walk the Worldâ€.
Thousands of people – many of whom can no longer afford the food available in the markets – will come together with celebrities, government dignitaries, UN agencies, WFP corporate partners, their employees, friends and families to walk over a 24-hour period, in each of the planet’s time zones, to raise awareness and funds to feed children.
Under the auspices of H.E Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the Walk in Cairo will begin at 6:00pm starting from the Smart Village Business Park. Around 800 people are expected to participate and will walk about 2 km inside the Park.
Families struggling with the price crunch are making tough choices: cutting meals, eating less nutritious food or taking their children out of school because they are no longer able to pay school fees. WFP school meals provide a critical safety net to poor families who desperately need help in this time of hardship.
“End Hunger: Walk the Worldâ€, a yearly event initiated by TNT in 2003, and joined by Unilever in 2007, will raise funds and public awareness to feed 59 million children who attend school hungry. For as little as EGP 2.30 per day, or EGP 345 per school year, WFP can distribute a snack consisting of a pack of biscuits and a carton of milk – a small but highly effective investment in a healthy and productive future.
In Egypt, WFP efforts aim to address 321,000 pre and primary school children, who continue to need food support.
WFP implements various School Feeding projects, with a special attention to remote and vulnerable areas of Egypt. WFP projects address girls who have missed an education (Girls Education Initiative and Community Schools), pre-school children (Early Childhood Education Enhancement Project) and street children, who particularly benefit from extra incentives to support their access and regular attendance in class, and school snack to promote better quality learning. WFP is also committed to a project aiming at withdrawing young labourers from the worst form of child labour, through their reintegration in the educational system.
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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: this year, WFP plans to feed more than 70 million people in around 80 countries.
TNT is a global mail and express delivery company serving more than 200 countries. Since 2002, TNT has bee an active partner of WFP and to date has invested over $50 million in the partnership
For more information, please contact:
Souraya Abo El Saoud, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +20-2-5281730, Ext. 4460
E-mail: Souraya.Saoud@wfp.org
