Staff Reporter:
World Food Program (WFP) Acting Executive Director Carl Skau has reaffirmed its commitment to mobilizing food aid for 1.3 million Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh, saying the crisis remains one of the Rome-based UN agency’s top agenda.
The acting WFP chief made the comments when he called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus yesterday at a hotel in the Italian capital, Chief Adviser’s Press Wing said.
The meeting focused primarily on the ongoing Rohingya crisis, famine situations in Gaza and Sudan, and the growing challenges in mobilizing funds to combat global hunger affecting tens of millions.
Skau praised Professor Yunus for his leadership over the past 15 months, particularly his unwavering efforts to bring international attention back to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.
Both leaders emphasized the urgent need for increased funding to support the Rohingyas residing in camps in Bangladesh.
Skau commended the September 30 high-level UN meeting on the Rohingya issue-convened at Professor Yunus’s request-stating that it had successfully “brought international attention back to the crisis.”
“It was an important meeting. We must ensure it remains high on the international agenda,” said Skau.
The duo also discussed the potential for securing funding from new sources, including wealthy nations and multilateral financial institutions.
Skau noted that following fresh humanitarian aid commitments from the United States and the United Kingdom announced during the UN high-level meeting in New York, WFP would continue providing the $12 monthly food stipend to each Rohingya.
Professor Yunus expressed appreciation for WFP’s global leadership in combating hunger and famine. He also thanked the UN agency for its support in launching a new school feeding programme in Bangla-desh.
“Some Asian countries have made amazing progress with school feeding. We aim to strengthen our ef-forts, ensuring both quality and gradual expansion,” the Chief Adviser said.
The discussion also touched on the hunger conditions in the world. Skau mentioned WFP’s ongoing ef-forts to deliver hundreds of food trucks into Gaza, amid rising food insecurity affecting nearly 300 mil-lion people globally.
Food Adviser Ali Imam Majumder, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter, SDG Coordinator Lamiya Morshed and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam were present at the meeting.
