William Lambers is the author of several books including "Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World." This book features over 50 interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, Shakira's Barefoot Foundation and ChildsLife International. The interviews, arranged by country, detail school feeding programs that fight child hunger. He is also the author of "Nuclear Weapons," "The Road to Peace," and "The Spirit of the Marshall Plan: Taking Action Against World Hunger, School Lunches for Kids Around the World." His articles have been published by the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Chicago Sun-Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the History News Network. His series of interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme is also available on the American Chronicle site.
Articles by William Lambers
The U.S. sent 150 million in military aid to Yemen recently so it can resist Al Qaeda and extremists. But while that´s happening, Yemenis displaced by a conflict in the North and living in camps are having their food rations cut. This is the result of low funding from the international community for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). These rations will go to zero eventually if new funding is not found.
This is a struggle not unique to Bradstreet´s time. As International Women's Day arrives, there are women all across the globe who are being deprived of education and opportunities. This may be because of the poverty they live in, but it can also be due to deep-rooted societal beliefs.
The school feeding programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was introduced as a safety net in order to protect the livelihoods of the most vulnerable non-refugee households.
If everyone contacts their representative we can change the course in Yemen.
What can someone reading this article do to help Yemen? Contact the leaders of your country. Tell them about the hunger crisis in Yemen and call for solutions. Let them know how important fighting hunger is for building peace.
There are enough resources to end hunger both at home and abroad. Never settle for anything less.
Today, it is bloggers who are the most important form of media for maintaining a consistent flow of information about hunger in Haiti and around the globe. Worldwide there are over 1 billion people suffering from hunger. We are in the midst of a global hunger crisis.
Save the Children staff in Haiti gave emergency medical attention to a baby girl pulled from the rubble Friday afternoon, nearly three days after an earthquake flattened much of Port-au-Prince.
Abby Ravera works for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome. She sent out a letter today asking for bloggers to help with earthquake relief for Haiti. WFP recently started a Bloggers against Hunger campaign.
in developing countries smaller farmers need help to get their own operation off the ground and producing more food.
The real news is not that people are hungry - but rather that they don't have to be. We can end hunger in our lifetimes. It would be great if the Obama Administration could make steps in that direction to restore people's hope in big goals like this.
School feeding is a silent, but very critical aspect of reconstruction for any country.
We are trying to put global hunger on the top of the administration's agenda
How can we expect children who are reduced almost to an animal life level of existence - who struggle each day for any kind of food that will keep them alive - how can we expect them in the future to be apostles of peace?
Representatives Sam Farr and Chaka Fattah are the latest members of Congress to co-sponsor the Global Security Priorities Resolution (H.Res 278). The idea is to reduce the number of nuclear weapons around the globe and divert savings toward fighting child hunger.
The U.S. needs to take the lead in building a global school lunch program. Providing more funding for McGovern-Dole is a first step and then using that platform to reach out to more governments to coordinate the global effort. If Congress would pass the Roadmap to End Global Hunger
As Rep. Jim McGovern says, "we are trying to put global hunger on the top of the administration´s agenda."
The Roadmap bill would move the fight against hunger to the top of the Obama administration's agenda.
This is a tragedy – not just for WFP – but for the whole humanitarian community and for the hungry.
Much can be learned from this episode in history and applied to today's struggles in countries like Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq. Food is absolutely critical for peace and reconstruction.
We know how to end hunger but yet for some reason the resolve from political leaders is not strong enough.
Unfortunately, because of the phasing out of Title II programs in India, many feeding programs in India (both general ones and ones associated with schools) are coming to an end.
We believe that this vision of invigorated US global leadership on hunger is vital not only for moral and humanitarian reasons, but for social, economic and political security in the longer term.
Now that we have a bill, it's important to try to get bipartisan support by first getting more cosponsors and then getting votes as the legislation moves within Congress
WFP has even been forced to cut back rations in some countries because funding is simply running out. The UN food agency is short 3 billion dollars to meet current food emergencies.
The World Food Programme is having to cut back programs like school feeding due to funding shortfalls totaling at least $3 billion.
The book, 'Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World', features over 50 interviews with officials from the United Nations World Food Programme, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, the Barefoot Foundation and ChildsLife International.
A new children's story highlights the importance of school feeding to fight hunger in the country of Nepal and around the globe.
In rural areas, boarding schools are limited and it is common for children to have to walk from one to two hours to get to school. This also means that many children sit in class hungry since most of them do not eat before leaving home, regardless of whether they attend the morning or afternoon shifts.
ChildsLife and other charities have to remain resilient. They understand the difficulties children face in such a harsh world and they are committed to helping them gain a better life.
Invoking the same spirit that fueled the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, author and historian William Lambers calls for a global school lunch program to fight child hunger
A new children's story highlights the importance of school feeding to fight hunger in the country of Nepal and around the globe.
But ChildsLife and other charities have to remain resilient. They understand the difficulties children face in such a harsh world and they are committed to helping them gain a better life.
History can provide insight into solving today's new nuclear threats.
School feeding plays a critical role not only by contributing to education of school children but also helps to mitigate the situation of food insecure families at rural areas.
WFP Ghana´s school feeding program has a three-pronged impact on national development: improving school enrolment and attendance, providing children with much needed micro-nutrients, and providing farmers with local markets through the local procurement of required food items.
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with one out of three children under five years old suffering from chronic malnutrition. Natural disasters like drought and flooding have all had a major impact on Honduras in recent years. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is em...
During the past two years, food support has had a remarkable effect. At assisted schools, WFP food support has increased enrollment by 40 percent, stabilized attendance and, most importantly, virtually eliminated school drop-outs.
Open Skies can be one of many diplomatic tools that can help rejuvenate the peace process on the Korean peninsula.
The School Feeding Program has been successful in attracting and retaining more children at school; it has also greatly contributed to increasing the children´s attention span and their learning potential.
Rwanda is on the long road to recovery from the 1994 genocide that devastated the African nation. Hunger and poverty still grip the country. The way out of this vicious cycle is food and education. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is helping provide school meals to fight child hunger an...
The current school feeding year of 2008-2009 is already part of the expansion phase in the West Bank. A first, small pilot was introduced in early 2007, and expanded in November 2007. However, considering the huge number of school children in the occupied Palestinian territory, there is much space for a further expansion of the program.
The goal is to assure that no child will go hungry anywhere on the planet. This is a key step toward eliminating hunger and building a future for impoverished nations. Through governmental and private sector funding universal feeding programs could be put in place for children in all countries. This would be the great Food for Peace initiative of our time.
Because of poverty, only 48% of children go to school, and the situation is worse for girls. Much more remains to be done – especially for girls. In addition, the United Nations Millennium Project recommended that school feeding be expanded to reach all children in hunger hotspots using locally produced foods.
The meals have a very positive effect on the children. First of all, the attendance rate of the children in schools where school feeding is provided is consistently high, almost 98 percent on average. Just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the enrollment rates for primary education dropped from 100 percent to about 70 percent in the country.
Also, because drought is a chronic problem in the south of Madagascar, meals provided through school feeding programs provide a critical source of nutrition, and ensure the continuity of school attendance. In other words, we can help keep pupils in school during these crises.
"In Somalia, lack of food and education aggravate the lawlessness; ironically, it is the Somali refugee camps –- with their school feeding programs –- that offer young Somalis the best chance to make a future for themselves and for their beleaguered country."
Hunger and poverty have severe implications for poor families and how they choose to use their available resources.
Approximately 40,000 children were affected by the closure of school canteens in 242 schools in 2007/2008.
Open Skies can be one of many diplomatic tools that can help rejuvenate the peace process on the Korean peninsula.
One thing RED! does that is special is take readers boldly into the heart of prison, jail, re-entry, recovery, and transformation issues unlike any other publication in existence, but we're geared to profile the occasions and areas in which real positive and healthy productivity and change occur in these individuals' lives. This is what most people don't normally get from TV or newspapers.
The more we want to improve the lives of XP families, advance the XP research projects and enhance the programs for XP people through Camp Sundown, the more money is needed to accomplish the tasks. We are very blessed to have a lot of volunteer labor for camp as well as donations of toys and meals. But there are expenses we do have to pay out. We can always use help in this department!
There are a million ways to get involved with CORD. It might seem easy to say send a donation, but honestly the foundation, and anyone who would want to get involved, will get more out of the experience if they give their time.
WFP has lined up workshops and other activities for stakeholders in Ethiopia, advocating for a school meal for every Ethiopian child attending school.
The children we assist in our School Feeding Programs are boys and girls whose families have been forced to abandon their homes due to violence, and other children in vulnerable conditions.
A nuclear-free world must not remain a distant hope but rather a goal vigorously pursued in a spirit of unprecedented international cooperation.
Unfortunately, insufficient resources prevent school feeding programs from providing for every child in need. In a time when a primary education is the minimum requirement for employment and a successful career in agriculture, a program that gives children incentive to attend and remain in school is critically important.
Without school meals, many children might lose their opportunity to get a good education and become productive citizens in the future.
One of the program's greatest successes has been the increase in the number of girls attending school. In 2007, more than 23,000 girls were attending schools participating in World Vision Afghanistan's Food for Education program - the highest number of girls attending school in Badghis and Ghor in the past 20 years.
Refugee children, like children in developed countries, have dreams they want to achieve in life. However, they must first rise from their difficult circumstances in order to achieve them.
School feeding ensures that poor children receive at least one balanced meal a day. This may result in less food for a student at home, but will give a hungry family member the chance to eat, such as a younger sibling too young to attend school.
Unlike most of WFP´s other activities, school feeding is a long-term project that should continue indefinitely through handover to the national government. In a country like Sudan, which has suffered decades of conflict, a national takeover will take time. Therefore, continued financial support is necessary to ensure program sustainability.
In February, 2.2 million beneficiaries in Darfur received 23,600 mt of WFP food rations.
ChildsLife partners with the United Nations World Food Programme to provide meals to the children attending Stara. With so many children living in poverty in Kibera, ChildsLife would like to see school meal programs expanded to reach more of those in need. Without food and education these children have no chance to reverse the cycle of poverty.
It is essential to recognize the importance of school meal programs in countries recovering from conflict or other disasters. Catholic Relief Services has demonstrated how important this is over the years, beginning with post-WWII Europe and more recently in Bosnia and other countries where the charity is active.
The future of any nation depends on the education of its children. Hungry children cannot perform well in their schoolwork and therefore food is key to their overall success. Parents depend heavily on school feeding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to provide daily meals for their children; and the program is making such a huge difference in the lives of both the children and their families
School feeding helps children to come to school and concentrate and learn. School feeding can help parents think twice before taking children out of school and having them work at home or in the field. It supports access to education. In the conflict-affected areas in Central African Republic, emergency school feeding in "bush schools" ensures that children's schooling is not interrupted due to displacement and insecurity.
School feeding is a powerful tool for communicating important messages to children and parents. For example, WFP, together with partner agencies, supports HIV/AIDS clubs where school children learn about HIV/AIDS, hygiene, and sanitation.
The WFP School Feeding Program in Côte d'Ivoire complements the national school feeding program, which aims at progressively taking over WFP assistance with its own resources.
A 22 pound ration of rice can be all a family needs to make it possible for its children to attend school. Therefore, it is very important to support education through school feeding and food for education programs in order to achieve a better livelihood in the future.
The WFP School Feeding Program currently targets primary schools in only five rural regions in central Chad, though hundreds of street children continue to hopelessly visit garbage dumps in urban areas with no opportunity to attend school. In this regard, additional support will allow WFP to extend its current program and reach more children.
School feeding is important because it addresses social equality. The program protects kids who would otherwise be left with no opportunity. Donations fund an act of generosity and respect for children.
The cost of a single meal for a child in Benin is only US 17 cents. For the cost of an evening at the movies, you can feed one child for an entire year!
School feeding programs are playing a vital role in ensuring that children get an education.
The World Food Programme (WFP) assists the Royal Government of Bhutan in its school feeding activities by providing two meals per day to 41,000 children studying in rural, remote boarding and selected day schools.
School feeding, is very important especially in areas where the illiteracy rate is very high as in the northern part of Cameroon. If basic education is not supported, in the long run all illiteracy will become a heavy burden for development. The development, political stability, peace, health and security of any nation is closely linked to education.
One of the report's recommendations called for "Food for education among the poorest areas," which would institute school lunches and take home rations for the most vulnerable Iraqi children.
In emergency situations school feeding support goes directly to children and ensures that generations do not miss out on an education because of a crisis.
Therefore, a consistent flow of funding is required to continue feeding the poor primary schoolchildren in Bangladesh
Founded by the singer Shakira Mebarak the Barefoot Foundation supports schools in Colombia that are giving children a chance to escape poverty.
People can write to President Obama and their representatives urging the passage of the Global Food Security Act. This legislation would create the White House level advisor on world hunger issues.
We estimate that nearly 2 million children go to school hungry in Nepal each day. Nepal's children have some of the worst nutrition statistics in the world. One in two children are stunted and 39 percent are underweight. Acute malnutrition rates are now rising and are as high as 20 percent in the districts bordering India.
The results so far have encouraged WFP to expand the school feeding programme to other food insecure areas of Indonesia, most notably in the eastern parts where the country's most vulnerable populations are found (West Timor, Lombok, Madura). The cost to feed one child for a year remains minimal at US$23.75, so any donation goes a long way.
Citizens should contact their representatives urging support for the Global Food Security Act, which would create Obama's "global hunger czar" position.
The Government of Malawi (GoM) and WFP Malawi are working together to expand the school feeding programme across all the districts. WFP is currently in the process of discussing with our government counterparts how to support the government of Malawi in this initiative.
The short film "Ending Child Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World" is a call to action to end the hunger that afflicts over 300 million children worldwide. The United States, building upon its tradition of fighting hunger, can lead the international community in making sure every child can receive a school lunch.
By providing an incentive to parents to take their children out of the formal and informal labor markets, deserving children are given a chance to have a better future - one free from hunger.
ChildsLife has been struggling to uphold current program commitments, and the much required expansion of the feeding programs in Kenya has been put on hold until funds are secured.