Posted: January 21, 2004

Athletics: Tergat Appointed World Food Program Ambassador

By Bob Ramsak

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved < RaceResultsWeekly.com>

Paul Tergat, the world record holder in the marathon, was appointed an Ambassador Against Hunger today by the United Nations World Food Programme.

The 34-year-old Tergat, a five-time world cross country champion, received food aid as an eight-year-old school child in Kenya's Rift Valley.

"Paul is a natural advocate for WFP," said James T. Morris, the Executive Director of the UN agency at a press conference this morning in Rome. "Few people are better qualified to explain how food aid can transform the lives of the world's 300 million chronically hungry children. It is a wonderful thing when people like Paul dedicate a part of their lives to help give kids a chance."

Tergat has become one of the most successful distance runners ever, but as a child in the drought-and- poverty-ridden district of Baringo, he often struggled to make the three-mile trek to school.

"Without food, it was very difficult to walk to school, let alone concentrate on our studies. WFP's lunches made it easier for us to make the most of our education," Tergat said. In 1977, the WFP began distributing free school lunches at his Riwo Primary School. "A full meal was also the perfect incentive to keep us in the classroom."

For 30 years, WFP school feeding programmes have kept generations of children globally coming back for more. For a child suffering from hunger, going to school is not important; having enough food to eat is. Research shows that school feeding dramatically increases school attendance and boosts performance in the classroom.

In 2002, WFP fed 15.6 million children in 64 countries; the Agency aims to reach 32 million children by the end of 2005 and 50 million by 2007. In the short-term, however, WFP's school feeding programmes are plagued by funding shortages, in particular, in Chad, Colombia, Haiti and Gambia.

Even the Kenyan school feeding programme, from which Tergat benefited, has been under constant threat. It has taken a generous contribution from the Kenyan government and the addition of limited WFP multilateral funds to secure the programme for 2005.

"We hope that Paul's new status as WFP Ambassador, a great honour for him and his country, will put the threat to school feeding on the international agenda," said Bruce Misoga Madete, Kenya's Ambassador to Italy and a guest at Wednesday's ceremony.

Tergat joins former US Senator and one-time presidential candidate George McGovern, and Cape Verdian singer Cesaria Evora as WFP Ambassadors. Other personalities, who are partnering with the world's largest humanitarian organisation, include former Rugby World Cup winners David Kirk and Nick Farr-Jones, actor Sean Connery, Japanese jazz artist Keiko Matsui and Ethiopian singer Aster Aweke.

"School children around the world must have the opportunity to pursue their dream," said Tergat.