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Tag ‘food policy’

First rains on Darfur

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Talking to internally displaced people in Kalma camp, South DarfurI arrive in Nyala after a day in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital and most prosperous city. The contrast is so dramatic that it is hard to believe we are still in the same country.  Khartoum, the city where the Blue and White Nile meet, is booming — oil revenues fuel construction everywhere.  It is a capital of a middle income country and only the occasional donkey on the busy streets reminds of Sudan’s rural soul.  

Nyala, in the South of Darfur, has none of Khartoum’s glamour.  It is visibly poor, with mostly unpaved streets, lots of mud houses and frequent electric power failures.  But Nyala is well off compared to the camps, hosting millions of internally displaced and refugees across Darfur. Power cuts  don’t exist there for a simple reason – there is no power to cut. Read the full entry

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Our new food policy and why it matters

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Today the Commission adopted my first policy proposal. It is about a very important humanitarian effort – the fight against hunger. Only a generation ago hunger was a very real threat to many Europeans trapped in the madness of World War II. In those days it was Europe who received food aid from the United States. Now, for those my age and younger, it is exceptional to ever face a day with no food, and no prospects of getting it.  And yet, this is the daily tragedy of more than one billion people worldwide, particularly in areas hit by humanitarian catastrophes. We in Europe have done a lot in the past to help fight hunger. Our new policy sends an important message to our staff and our partners – we not only must reach the most vulnerable people, particularly women and children, but also help crisis-hit communities feed themselves.  Read the full entry

Number of views: 1646