Unilever Ghana donates to WFP "Walk the World"

Accra, Sept. 28, GNA - Employees of Unilever Ghana on Tuesday donated GH¢7,215 to the World Food Programme's "End Hunger: Walk the World Event".

The event is a joint effort of World Food Programme (WFP) and its corporate partners, which include Unilever.

Unilever joined forces with the WFP in 2007 for a three-year partnership to improve the nutrition and health of poor and school-going children around the world.

Mrs Vera A. Boohene, Public Information Officer at WFP, said the local partnership with Unilever Ghana was officially launched in May 2008 and this donation had brought the company's total contributions to the "Walk the World Event" to $15,000.

She stated that the money would be used to support the government's School Feeding Programme, especially in the three northern regions.

She explained that a WFP study had shown that these regions recorded the highest levels of poverty and hunger due to the seven-month long lean season they experienced.

Mrs Boohene said WFP sourced for food locally to support the School Feeding Programme and it had bought about 1,933 tonnes of locally-produced rice as at May 2010.

She thanked Unilever Ghana for the donation and assured them that it would be used well.

Ms Bernice Natue, Corporate Relations Manager at Unilever Ghana, who presented the cheque, said the company decided to join forces with WFP because they noticed that about six children die every minute from hunger, when it cost just 25 cents to feed a child and that hunger killed more people than HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis combined.

The company had therefore seen the need to support WFP in its quest to end hunger, she said.

"So long as God gives us the strength, we would continue to support the WFP because it is a worthy cause," she said.

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast-moving consumer goods with strong roots in more than 100 countries across the globe.

GNA