Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations
Catherine Bertini was appointed head of the World Food Programme, the largest global food aid agency in 1992. She has worked to implement the agency’s dual mandate: to avert starvation in humanitarian crises through emergency operations, and to promote long-term development projects aimed at breaking the deeply rooted hunger-poverty cycle. Under her leadership, the World Food Programme’s share of global food aid rose from 22 percent in 1993 to 36 percent in 1998. Ms. Bertini will discuss the world food security conditions and starvation/hunger “hot spots” in the world today. Earlier this year, she reported on an alarming trend concerning the poorest nations simultaneously hit by both natural and man-made emergencies, including in Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Tajikistan. The current food emergency situation in Afghanistan has received priority attention from the WFP since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.