United Nations World Food Programme
Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68. Parco dei Medici. 00148 - Rome - Italy
Background
Assisting 91.4 million people in around 83 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.
As the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030, one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat. Food and food-related assistance lie at the heart of the struggle to break the cycle of hunger and poverty.
On any given day, WFP has 5,000 trucks, 20 ships and 92 planes on the move, delivering food and other assistance to those in most need. Every year, we distribute more than 15 billion rations at an estimated average cost per ration of US$ 0.31. These numbers lie at the roots of WFP’s unparalleled reputation as an emergency responder, one that gets the job done quickly at scale in the most difficult environments.
WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations. Two-thirds of our work is in conflict-affected countries where people are three times more likely to be undernourished than those living in countries without conflict.
In emergencies, WFP is often first on the scene, providing food assistance to the victims of war, civil conflict, drought, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, crop failures and natural disasters. When the emergency subsides, WFP helps communities rebuild shattered lives and livelihoods. We also work to strengthen the resilience of people and communities affected by protracted crises by applying a development lens in our humanitarian response.
WFP development projects focus on nutrition, especially for mothers and children, addressing malnutrition from the earliest stages through programmes targeting the first 1,000 days from conception to a child’s second birthday, and later through school meals.
WFP is the largest humanitarian organisation implementing school feeding programmes worldwide and has been doing so for over 50 years. Each year, WFP provides school meals to 18.3 million children across 65 countries, often in the hardest-to-reach areas.
WFP purchases more than 3 million metric tons of food every year. At least three quarters of it comes from developing countries. By buying food as close as possible to where it is needed, we can save time and money on transport costs, and help sustain local economies. Increasingly, WFP meets people’s food needs through cash-based transfers that allow the people we serve to choose and shop for their own food locally.
WFP also provides services to the entire humanitarian community, including passenger air transportation through the UN Humanitarian Air Service, which flies to more than 280 locations worldwide.
Funded entirely by voluntary donations, , in 2017 WFP raised US$6 billion. WFP has more than 15,000 staff worldwide of whom over 90 percent are based in the countries where the agency provides assistance.
WFP is governed by a 36-member Executive Board. It works closely with its two Rome-based sister organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. WFP partners with more than 1,000 national and international NGOs to provide food assistance and tackle the underlying causes of hunger
Policy framework
WFP is committed to uphold a Zero-tolerance policy to sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (SEA). SEA constitutes serious misconduct and is grounds for disciplinary action, including summary dismissal and referral to enforcement authorities for criminal prosecution, where appropriate, in WFP and throughout the UN system. Following the three Circulars (ED2003/005; ED2004/001; ED2005/004), WFP’s Executive Director in 2014 issued the circular OED2014/020 outlining special measures for protection against SEA such obligations for all WFP employees to report any concerns or reasonable suspicions of SEA to:
- the designated Focal Point on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA Focal Point) at the country or field office levels, or to his/her alternate;
or
- the Office of Inspections and Investigations (OIGI) directly through telephone/fax/email or its Hotline at:hotline@wfp.org.
- If employees believe they have been retaliated against for reporting SEA or any other misconduct in good faith, or for cooperating with a duly authorized audit and investigation, they can request protection by contacting the Ethics Office.
In 2017, WFP rolled-out a “Guidance Note about the Prohibition on Engaging Prostitution Services”, aimed at helping employees understand WFP’s expectations of conduct as related to prostitution, considered a form of SEA.
In 2018, WFP also circulated a “Control Self-Assessment: Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse” document aiming to support CDs in linking controls to potential operational risk.
In 2015 WFP started implementing the new Gender Policy (2015-2020). The major goal of the Policy is to: Enable WFP to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment into all of its work and activities, to ensure that the different food security and nutrition needs of women, men, girls and boys are addressed. This goal is supported by four objectives:
- Food assistance adapted to different needs. Women, men, girls and boys benefit from food assistance programmes and activities adapted to their different needs and capacities.
- Equal participation. Women and men participate equally in the design and implementation of gender- transformative food security and nutrition programmes and policies;
- Decision-making by women and girls. Women and girls have increased decision- making power over food security and nutrition in households, communities and societies; and
- Gender and protection. Food assistance does no harm to the safety, dignity and integrity of women, men, girls and boys receiving it, with respect for their rights.
A corporate Gender Action Plan (GAP), an accountability framework, was developed to implement the Gender Policy. The GAP transforms the Policy into concrete and measurable actions and accountabilities for all staff in WFP. The GAP lists actions, responsible WFP units, indicators and targets which are to be achieved by 2020.
This Gender Action Plan transforms the goal of the new Gender Policy into concrete and measurable actions and accountabilities to be implemented between 2015 and 2020 in two “layers”:
In layer 1 of the GAP, the programme indicators linked to each gender policy objective are mapped and embedded in WFP’s reporting frameworks, and new indicators are proposed for inclusion in future WFP result frameworks.
Layer 2 details the internal work that WFP needs to carry out to ensure concrete results related to gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). The programme processes introduced in layer 2 will enhance the influence of GEWE mainstreaming on WFP’s needs assessments, programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and lesson-learning, including through the collection, analysis and use of sex- and age-disaggregated data. Actions for organizational change will strengthen WFP’s ability to deliver effective and efficient services to the people it assists.
Furthermore, 6 Regional Gender Strategies have been developed to enable context specific adaptations of the policy by regional bureaus and country offices. A Theory of Change analysis has further clarified inputs/outputs and the expected outcomes of the Gender Policy..
In line with its 2012 Policy on Humanitarian Protection, WFP seeks to implement food assistance programmes that take the inter-linkages between hunger and gender-based violence (of which conflict related sexual violence is one of the most prominent manifestations) into account, such as, for example: distance to and safety of program sites, risk of resorting to harmful coping mechanisms, including sexual exploitation. The objective is to ensure that programmes are safe and dignified, and to support an overall environment in which violence is reduced and its effects on survivors are mitigated.
A 2018 evaluation assessed the policy’s quality, results achieved and the factors influencing this achievement from 2012 to 2017. It found that while the Policy on Humanitarian Protection lacked a specific vision, it was well-grounded in international discourse on humanitarian protection. Developing the policy helped WFP to increase sensitivity to protection, and encouraged the development of related strategies. The six recommendations deriving from the evaluation called for the development of a new protection policy; the integration of protection considerations into corporate risk management; the strategic use of partnerships to achieve protection aims; strengthened staff capacities; strengthened analyses of contexts and protection issues; and a new strategy for engagement with affected populations and vulnerable groups.
In various countries WFP supports violence survivors during their temporary stay in safe shelters and afterwards, during their process of reintegration in the community. Through food for training programs WFP contributes to raise awareness on women's rights and gender equality. Through both targeted relief and livelihoods support programs WFP protects women and girls at risk of exploitation and abuse. In northeast Nigeria, 5,000 internally displaced persons, living in the Banki camp, are completely dependent on WFP for their food security. WFP, together with its partner INTERSOS, has distributed over 7,000 fuel-efficient stoves as a protective and promotive measure for women; reducing risks of violence when collecting firewood. The project aims at reducing households’ dependency on firewood collection and, consequently, women’s exposure to dangerous travels in the bush.
All the above contribute to creating a gender sensitive enabling environment in the Organization and benefit WFP interventions and future policies as a whole. In countries targeted by UNSCR 1325, the Gender Policy and its instruments guide WFP staff to provide a more focus attention to gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment issues, including Women, Peace and Security matters.
Areas of Focus
WFP’s operational contexts are sometimes characterised by a high prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV), both in development and, particularly, in crisis settings. WFP has both an ethical obligation and a programmatic interest in taking GBV into account when planning, implementing and monitoring its operations. In addition, as a large humanitarian actor with a significant field presence, WFP staff may witness or come into contact with GBV issues. In this instance, WFP must ensure that its staff are able to deal with the affected person(s) in a safe and ethical way and refer them to the most appropriate actors for assistance and follow-up. WFP’s approach to GBV mirrors the broader approach to protection set forth in the Policy on Humanitarian Protection, which defines protection as “designing and carrying out food and livelihood assistance activities that do not increase the protection risks faced by the crisis-affected populations receiving assistance, but rather, contribute to the safety, dignity and integrity of vulnerable people”.
GBV as a protection and gender concern for WFP
Gender-based violence is recognized as both a protection and gender concern. As required by the Protection Policy, Gender Policy and in accordance with the “do no harm” approach, WFP programmes and interventions must not create, exacerbate or contribute to gender inequality or discrimination and must mitigate risks of GBV. When planning short- and medium-term emergency responses where GBV is recognized as a serious and widespread protection issue, the immediate response falls within the implementation of the Protection Policy. In order to address the root causes of GBV, longer-term planning with a more concerted approach to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment is required. The implementation of the Gender Policy is key in achieving this.
Every year, WFP runs the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign to support action to eliminate violence against women, men, girls and boys. The 16 Days campaign has been supported by the United Nations Secretary General’s Campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women since 2008 and aims to raise awareness and increase political will and resources for preventing and ending all forms of gender-based violence (GBV). It is symbolised by the color orange. For 2018, WFP’s call to action was “Orange the world – support gender-based violence survivors”. In calling for an end to gender-based violence, WFP mobilized to stand in solidarity with GBV survivors and survivor advocates. Please see the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence summary report, the Cairo Regional Bureau 16 Days Campaign report (email attachments) and list of activities to address violence against women and girls (Annex).
GBV and food insecurity
It is important to note that WFP can only play a role in addressing protection concerns that are connected to food insecurity, as these can be influenced by food assistance interventions. Since 2005, within the framework of the broader in-house protection discourse, WFP has been exploring the linkages among food insecurity, food assistance and GBV through extended field research and consultations with protection partners.
In 2010, WFP engaged in a series of field studies aimed at “Enhancing prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence in the context of food assistance in displacement settings”. This guidance builds on the findings of those studies, among other sources. The links between GBV and food insecurity are clear. GBV can increase levels of hunger and malnutrition by affecting people’s degree of access to and control over food. For example, poor families may sacrifice female children’s nutrition in order to meet the needs of male children. Additionally, people who have been exposed to GBV may suffer psychosocial or physical harm, stigma and exclusion, and consequently be unable to generate income and care for their dependents. In many contexts, women’s lack of access to and control of assets, services and income increases their economic dependence as well as their vulnerabilities to abusive and exploitative situations. These factors can lead to food insecurity.
WFP recognizes its responsibility to:
- Assume that gender-based violence is taking place;
- Treat it as a serious and life-threatening protection issue; and
- Take actions to minimize the risk of gender-based violence through its interventions, regardless of the presence or absence of concrete evidence.
For more information, refer to IASC GBV Guidelines and GBV AoR Handbook for Coordinating GBV Interventions in Humanitarian Settings.
Food insecurity may exacerbate some forms of GBV. For example, women and girls who are traditionally tasked with finding fuel to prepare food, may need to venture to unsafe areas to collect firewood and be exposed to risk of assault. Within households, domestic violence can rise during periods of food scarcity, and may decline as assistance fills the food gap. Women heads of households may engage in transactional sex to be able to meet food needs, and parents may push for early marriage for their daughters in the hope they will have their food needs met elsewhere. Food or cash assistance in itself may also unintentionally contribute to GBV. A food distribution site that is located in an unsafe area, or is far from where people live, may expose women to sexual violence. Cash delivered to women without taking into consideration gender roles and responsibilities may unintentionally increase domestic violence in a society that is strictly opposed to women having control over economic resources.
Resources
-WFP Gender Policy 2015-2020, which goal is to enable WFP to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment into all of its work and activities, to ensure that the different needs of women, men, girls and boys are met.
-WFP Policy on Humanitarian Protection (2012)
- WFP Gender-based Violence Manual (2016).This manual provides an overview of the key issues related to gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of WFP’s operations
- UNITE Campaign 20187:
- WFP Concept Note for the 16 days of Activism to end gender-based violence (2018
7) - Final report of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign in WFP (2018
7) - Final report of the 16 Days of Activism in Cairo Regional bureau (2018)
-WFP activities, stories and reports from Regional Bureaux (RB Bangkok; RB Cairo, RB Dakar, RB Johannesburg; RB Panama) and WFP Country Offices
In 2020, WFP also focused on capacity building, prioritising dedicated resources for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and adapting its current practices to the COVID19 context. A few examples of the work WFP did to translate exiting guidance into practice and the outcome of these initiatives are outlined below.
WFP provided feedback and supported the development of material for the GBV IASC online course that was launched in 2021. This material includes videos from WFP country offices in India, Colombia, and Uganda on how they mainstream GBV mitigation into food security and nutrition assistance/services.
WFP facilitated a webinar for the WFP Cash-based Transfer (CBT) learning series on mainstreaming GBV mitigation into cash-based assistance. This was an opportunity for the Women Refugee Council (WRC) and CARE subject experts to introduce WFP to existing guidance that complements the IASC Guidelines and present country-level good practices.
WFP used the opportunity to develop new commitments for the Call to Action on Protection from GBV 2021-2025 Roadmap to engage country offices, regional bureau (RB) and the foods security cluster to raise awareness about the IASC Guidelines, review existing practices and initiatives and jointly define priorities and indicators to measure the impact of the new commitments. The commitments were approved in April 2021 and will be officially launched in June 2021 in a webinar addressed to dedicated protection and gender personnel and in a broader event in December 2021.
WFP conducted regional online training sessions for PSEA Focal Points in all six-regional bureau (RB), co-hosted by NGO Unit, the Office on Inspections and Investigations (OIGI) and the respective RB, with participation from approximately 60 Country Offices.
As part of its interagency engagements, WFP committed to designating Inter-agency PSEA Coordinators in Afghanistan, Colombia, Mozambique, Sudan and Nigeria WFP supported their recruitment and induction.
Integrating PSEA into core WFP Training Initiatives-The Ethics Office worked closely with the Field Security Division to integrate a PSEA module within the WFP Safe and Secure Approaches in Field Environments (SSAFE) Training Course to support WFP employees that are part of processes.
Supported the dissemination of the Harmonised UN IP PSEA Assessment -The Ethics Office and NGO Unit co-hosted a session to introduce the tool to field colleagues which was attended by over 150 participants across WFP. In addition, WFP initiated a field pilot of the Assessment Tool with selected Country Offices.
The IASC “Say No to Sexual Misconduct” learning package was developed and launched to equip partner organizations with the awareness and skills to define, detect and respond to SEA. WFP had a lead role in adapting the package, working together with UNHCR, other UN agencies and IASC members, from an earlier initiative by IOM.
Some highlights from the country level: in Nepal, WFP supported the development of a facilitator guide that incorporates gender and inclusion including gender-based violence with updated facts supported by data and reporting mechanism in place to address sexual exploitation and abuse. The session is developed particularly for the participants of emergency logistics trainings. In Myanmar, guidance was prepared based on GBV risks in cash-based interventions in Rakhine State. In Nicaragua, WFP implemented an initiative call "the construction of new masculinities for the transformation of gender relations in WFP and the smallholder farmers”. WFP’s male staff and smallholder farmers’ organizations sensitized and trained on issues of violence prevention and new masculinities.
Cuba Country Office : While carrying out sensitization workshops in the field on various gender issues (i.e. masculinities and gender stereotypes), WFP always included a section to advocate on the importance of preventing gender-based violence and on the organization’s commitment in this area.
View MoreCuba Country Office:
- While carrying out sensitization workshops in the field on various gender issues (i.e. masculinities and gender stereotypes), WFP always included a section to advocate on the importance of preventing gender-based violence and on the organization’s commitment in this area.
- WFP is also supporting small initiatives for women’s empowerment in selected cooperatives (i.e. a vegetable garden and poultry farming), which ultimately will also contribute to reduce gender-based violence at the local level.
WFP Headquarters
The Gender Office organized two “training of trainers” workshops on Social Norms in HQ.
These training sessions equipped field officers with skills to address discriminatory gender norms, including harmful masculinities and femininities, to create transformational changes at the individual, organisational and societal levels for gender just outcomes.
In June 2018, the workshop was attended by 18 participants from 13 Country Offices, and three participants from Dakar Regional Bureau.
In October 2018, the workshop was attended by 11 participants from 9 Country Offices, and one participant from Bangkok Regional Bureau.
Iraq Country Office:
In September 2018, WFP / Iraq / Baghdad conducted an awareness session for our cooperating partner Mercy Hands on Social Norms and the transformation of gender.
Nicaragua Country Office
- Let's Paint the World of Orange: Support Survivors of Gender-Based Violence.NICO´s efforts have focused on prevention actions through training and empowerment of members of cooperatives, women and young people, which allows greater awareness and address this problem within the organizations of producers.
- In addition, as part of this campaign, NICO makes efforts to involve men in the processes of accompaniment and learning about the construction of new masculinities, social norms and new leaderships in order to achieve the transformation of gender relations in the workplace and personal life.
- Talks: “Aprender, Involucrarse y estar Alerta para prevenir la Violencia Basada en Género”; “Introducción a la charla sobre Normas Sociales”; Aprendiendo sobre Mitos y Realidades de la Violencia Basada en Género (VBG).
Syria Country Office:
In June 2018, WFP facilitated two-days training on discriminatory social norms for 26 staff of Gender Results Network members and senior management, the training was facilitated by Ahmad Hammoud and Fatema Hammadi with support of Alan Gerieg. The training focused on interactive activates and exercises which promote great participation and better understanding of the norms and the way to address the patriarchal masculinities inside WFP workplace, social live as well as through WFP’s activities across Syria country, thus ensure that different needs for women, girls and men, boys are addressed.
In reference to trainings and capacity building of WFP employees, a good example related to PSEA could be the online e-learning, made compulsory for all WFP employees, on Prevention of Fraud, Corruption and SEA.
WFP MYANMAR Country Office
1) For the opening of the 16 Days Campaign against GBV, WFP Myanmar closely cooperated with the National Myanmar Gender Equality Network (GEN) and supported its national campaign ‘From Peace in the home to peace in the world: Involve men to fight violence against women.” Furthermore, a brief footage in the IDP camp benefitting from the new transfer modality (e-wallet) in Myitkyina, Kachin State, was produced with statements of internally displaced women and men on the importance of understanding the root causes of intimate partner violence which might arise from changing in-kind assistance to cash based transfer modalities. WFP Field Office closely collaborated with Karuna Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS), UNFPA and UNHCR on various actions suggested to prevent GBV within the families and also in communities where strongly defined gender roles are still deeply embedded within a cultural or religious coat and gender equality neglected on the public agenda. As an example, the humanitarian community together with IDPs competed in the mini marathon organized by the GBV working group.
2) WFP male staff signed up to the WFP Men Stand for Gender Equality pledge and remained highly engaged in contributing to the country wide campaign to prevent GBV highlighted during orange days and events like the International Women’s Day.
3) WFP Myanmar reiterated its commitment to organize monthly orange days in its Field Offices. In March 2018, Myitkyina Field Office dedicated a special event to help staff understand the negative consequences of GBV against women and girls and learned about the importance of promoting a peaceful co-existence that begins at household level. WFP staff acknowledged that in their working environment, women’s voices and suggestions are still less powerful than those provided by men.