Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

U.N. food program seeks $500M

|
|
 
  
Published: March. 25, 2008 at 10:21 AM

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (UPI) -- A United Nations food program has issued an emergency appeal for donations as the amount of food aid sent abroad from the United States is plunging.

The World Food Program, which feeds about 73 million people worldwide, is seeking funding to close a $500 million gap caused by global spikes in food and fuel prices, the United Nations said in a release issued in New York.

"We urge your government to act quickly on this request so that we may avoid cutting the rations for those who rely on the world to stand by them during times of abject need," Josette Sheeran, WFP executive director, wrote in letters to donors.

The price of food and fuel has jumped 55 percent since June 2007, Sheeran said. The food program has worked to lessen the effects of the increases, including buying 80 percent of its food supplies in local and regional markets.

Because of rising food and fuel prices, the new estimated figure to cover projects in 78 countries is $3.4 billion, the organization said. The revised estimate doesn't include emergency operations.

Topics: Josette Sheeran
Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 20
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visited in Washington
View Caption
Veterans etch the names of their friends inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War on May 26, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than 58,000 names of the servicemen who were killed or missing in the war are engraved on The Wall. UPI/Pat Benic
fark
Photoshop this swooping cyclist
For sale: Fixer upper. 48 bedrooms, no bath. $4 million. No HOA
Woman recognizes image of God in mixing bowl -- probably because it resembles all the pictures she...
Online petition for Diane Tran has reached 20,000 signatures and almost $30,000 has been raised...
Brain surgeon hides engagement ring in the sand at the beach for his girlfriend to find, then can't...
Submitter needs suggestions for a House Fly home remedy - anyone got something better than this?...