The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has introduced a new, coupon-based food distribution program in Haiti, where 2 million people are still estimated to need food (see "Coupons Feed Chaos in Efforts to Feed Haitians" in the New York Times).
The program offers women colored and dated vouchers that they can exchange for 25-kilogram (55-pound) rice rations at one of 16 centers in Port-au-Prince. The World Food Programme web site explains that "WFP is targeting primarily female heads of household, as women are usually the first to be pushed out of line if people get hungry and desperate at food distributions. The women are the ones who get the coupons to collect food for the family and they alone are allowed into the distribution compound." You can read more about the coupon program in this UN New Centre article. For a description of the logistical details of distributing food in Haiti, take a look at this story by Adventist Development and Relief Agency International--one of WFP's partner relief organizations for food distribution in Haiti. The article is posted on the web site of ReliefWeb, which is a good source for information about relief efforts in Haiti.
For additional resources about food distribution, take a look at our guide to Foreign Relations and International Aid.
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