KC goes to UN-WFP headquarters in Rome
KC Concepcion, national ambassador against hunger for United Nations-World Food Programme (UN-WFP), visited the agency’s main headquarters in Rome, Italy over the weekend to discuss the situation in the Philippines, specifically in Mindanao.
During the meeting on March 27, Concepcion has pleaded for more funds to help end hunger stalking thousands of families in troubled Mindanao. She also stressed the need to sustain the feeding program in the provinces of North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
There are almost 70,000 students and families who need help in Mindanao, Concepcion noted.
Concepcion further drew a picture of the grim situation on the island: 75 percent of the population earns only P0.60 a day; 40 percent of the children, aged five years and below, are malnourished; and only a small 33 percent are fortunate enough to go to school.
This is aside from the volatile peace and order situation in the southern Philippines.
Concepcion specifically wants to raise public awareness for school feeding needs in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
“For me, coming to the headquarters was really something. It inspired me a lot,” she said.
As part of its mission, WFP has launched "Fill the Cup" program, an international campaign to raise funds for the estimated 59 million children in the developing world who go to school on an empty stomach. From Africa and Asia to Latin America, WFP’s free school meals are served in 70 developing countries, encouraging poor families to send their children to class.
The agency estimates that providing free meals to all the world’s hungry school children will cost about $3 billion per year.
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