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4. World Food Programme

Formation: - 19 December 1961

Head Quarter: - Rome, Italy
Present Executive Director: - David Beasley, US (2017- )
Executive Directors from India: - Sushil K. Dev (Jan,1968-
Aug,1968)[acting]
Parent Organization: United Nations General Assembly, Food and
Agricultural Organisation

Focus Areas
It is a leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing
lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with
communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

 Climate action
 Disaster risk reduction
 Gender equality
 Smallholder market support
 Social protection and safety nets
 Sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems

Objectives
 WFP focuses on emergency assistance as well as rehabilitation
and development aid.
 Two-thirds of its work is in conflict-affected countries, where
people are three times more likely to be undernourished than
elsewhere.
 It works closely with the other two Rome-based UN agencies: -
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which helps
countries, draw up policy and change legislation to support
sustainable agriculture. The International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), which finances projects in
poor rural areas.
 To end hunger by protecting access to food. Zero hunger 2030.
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 Improving nutrition and achieving food security.

 Supporting the SDG implementation and partnering for its results.
WFP and India
WFP has been working in India since 1963, with work transitioning
from food distribution to technical assistance since the country
achieved self-sufficiency in cereal production. The areas in which
WFP mainly assists in India are:

 Transforming the targeted public distribution system: WFP is

working to improve the efficiency, accountability and
transparency of India’s own subsidized food distribution system,
which brings supplies of wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene oil to
around 800 million poor people across the country.
 Fortification of government distributed food: To boost the
nutritional value of the Government’s mid day Meal school
feeding programme, WFP is pioneering the multi-micronutrient
fortification of school meals.

o The pilot project saw rice fortified with iron, which was
distributed in a single district, resulting in a 20 percent drop
in anaemia.
o It has also helped tackle malnutrition by fortifying food given
to babies and young children in Kerala State.
 Mapping and monitoring of food insecurity: WFP has used
Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping softwares to identify India’s
most food insecure areas, which allows policy and relief work to
be targeted appropriately.

o WFP is also supporting the government’s Poverty and Human

Development Monitoring Agency in establishing a State-level
Food Security Analysis Unit, working towards the goal of
achieving Zero Hunger.
Report Released by WFP
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 Global Report on Food Crisis- The Global Report on Food

Crises describes the scale of acute hunger in the world. It provides
an analysis of the drivers that are contributing to food crises
across the globe.
o The report is produced by the Global Network against Food
Crises, an international alliance working to address the root
causes of extreme hunger.
Award Won
 The WFP has been awarded with the Nobel Prize for Peace
2020 for its efforts to combat hunger, bettering conditions for
peace in conflict-affected areas and preventing the use of hunger
as a weapon of war and conflict.

5. RCEP
Full form: Regional Comprehensive Economic Programme
Members: All members of ASEAN + China, Japan, South Korea
(East Asian members) + Australia, New Zealand (Oceania Members)
Type: Free Trade Agreement
Depositary: Secretary General of ASEAN
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam (Virtual Host)
Objective
 to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually
beneficial economic partnership agreement that will cover trade in
goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical
cooperation, intellectual property, competition, electronic
commerce, dispute settlement and other issues.
 Boost economic growth and equitable economic development,
advance economic cooperation and broaden and deepen
integration in the region through the RCEP.
India and RCEP
 Widening Trade Deficit:
 Tariff elimination due to RCEP
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 India's trade deficit with China is at $53 billion

Reasons for India’s Withdrawl
 Unfavourable Balance of Trade: Though trade has increased the post-
Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, ASEAN countries and Japan,
imports have risen faster than exports from India. According to a paper
published by NITI Aayog, India has a bilateral trade deficit with most of
the member countries of RCEP.
 Chinese Angle: India has already signed FTA with all the countries of
RCEP except China. Trade data suggests that India’s deficit with China,
with which it does not have a trade pact, is higher than that of the
remaining RCEP constituents put together.
 This trade deficit is the primary concern for India, as after signing RCEP
cheaper products from China would have flooded the Indian market.
Further, from a geopolitical perspective, RCEP is China-led or is intended
to expand China's influence in Asia.
 Non-acceptance of Auto-trigger Mechanism: To deal with the imminent
rise in imports, India had been seeking an auto-trigger mechanism. Auto-
trigger Mechanism would have allowed India to raise tariffs on products in
instances where imports cross a certain threshold. However, other countries
in the RCEP were against this proposal.
 Protection of Domestic Industry: India had also reportedly expressed
apprehensions on lowering and eliminating tariffs on several products like
dairy, steel etc. For instance, the dairy industry is expected to face stiff
competition from Australia and New Zealand. Currently, India’s average
bound tariff for dairy products is on average 35%. The RCEP binds
countries to reduce that current level of tariffs to zero within the next 15
years.
 Lack of Consensus on Rules of Origin: India was concerned about a
“possible circumvention” of rules of origin. Rules of origin are the criteria
used to determine the national source of a product. Current provisions in
the deal reportedly do not prevent countries from routing, through other
countries, products on which India would maintain higher tariffs.
Major FTAs India Signed
 South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA)
 India-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)
 India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
 India-Japan CEPA
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6. UNICEF
Full Form: United Nations Children’s Fund
Created: 1946
Countries: 190
Head Quarter: New York City, US
Sector: Child Welfare
Head: Henrietta H. Fore
Parent Organization: United Nations General Assembly, United Nations
Economic and Social Council
Awards: Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965 for “promotion of brotherhood
among the nations”.
Regional Offices: Panama City, Panama; Geneva, Switzerland; Bangkok,
Thailand; Nairobi, Kenya; Amman, Jordan; Kathmandu, Nepal; Senegal
Objective
 Created as International Child’s Emergency Fund by UN relief
Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II.
 It became a permanent part of the UN in 1953.
 To advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic
needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
 UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
 It strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical
principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.

Scope of Work
Child Development and Nutrition; Child Protection; Education;
Child Environment; Polio Eradication;
Reproductive and Child Health; Children and AIDS;
Social Policy, Planning,
Monitoring and Evaluation; Advocacy and Partnership;
Behaviour Change Communication; Emergency Preparedness and Response.
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UNICEF and India

 UNICEF began its work in India in 1949 with three staff members and
established an office in Delhi three years later.
Currently, it advocates for the rights of India’s children in 17 states with
400 staff members.
 Nodal Ministries: Ministry of Women and Child Development.
 Work done by UNICEF in India includes:
 Census support, 2011: Gender issues were mainstreamed into the
training and communication strategy for the 2011 Census. This helped
2.7 million enumerators and supervisors collect quality disaggregated
data as part of the UNICEF contribution to the joint United Nations
support to the Census.
o Polio Campaign, 2012: Polio cases in India fell from 559 in 2008 to
zero cases in 2012.
 The Government, in partnership with UNICEF, the World Health
Organization (WHO), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Rotary International and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention contributed to almost universal awareness of the need to
vaccinate all children under five against polio.
 As a result of these efforts, India was removed from the list of
endemic countries in 2014.
o Reduction in Maternal Mortality Rate , 2013: UNICEF’s support to
the National Health Mission (NHM) and the second phase of
the Reproductive and Child Health programme resulted in increased
access to institutional and community-based maternal, neonatal and
child health services.
o Call to Action, 2013: This initiative was launched to reduce under-
five mortality.
 It has brought together state governments, development partners,
such as UNICEF, NGOs, the corporate sector and other key
stakeholders under the umbrella to ensure harmony in efforts to
accelerate inroads in child survival.
o Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2013: The Ministry of Women and
Child Development (MWCD) successfully launched a nationwide
communication campaign on Maternal and Child Nutrition with
UNICEF Ambassador promoting nutrition for children.
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 This was one of the largest public service campaigns in the

country, reaching people across India, through diverse means of
communication in 18 languages.
o India Newborn Action Plan, 2014: This is first of this kind in the
region, builds upon the existing commitments for newborn under Call
to Action, the RMNCH+A (Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn,
Child Health + Adolescent).