Event Registration

Join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte as we host a panel featuring the United Nations World Food Programme, 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, on Thursday, February 4th, 2021.

Feeding the World through Innovation:

How Technology, Innovation, and the Corporate Sector Collaborate to Fight Global Hunger

Panelists will include:

• Bernhard Kowatsch, Director of WFP’s Innovation Accelerator
• Gabriela Alvarado, WFP Chief of IT Emergency Preparedness and Response
• Dr. Tiffani Burt, Executive Director of the Materials Lifecycle Team at Sealed Air Innovation and Sustainability

Necessity is the mother of invention. Nowhere is that truer than at the United Nations World Food Programme, the largest humanitarian organization on a mission to create a zero-hunger world. Innovation and technology has been fundamental to the U.N. World Food Programme’s operations and logistics for sixty years and a driving force behind its ability to feed and support more than 100 million people each year. In its early years, the U.N. World Food Programme introduced humanitarian airlifts, airdrops and vehicle leasing, email via radio connections and assistance distribution through e-vouchers. Today, it leverages technology including mobile, biometrics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and digital finance to empower and improve the lives of its beneficiaries. When faced with conflict, disaster or famine, every second and every mile can be the difference between life and death. Innovation is an essential to enabling the U.N. World Food Programme to scale and respond quickly to emergencies so that it helps as many people as possible. Join us as we talk to U.N. World Food Programme experts and private-sector partners about the cutting-edge technology that the U.N. World Food Programme currently employs and the solutions currently under development at WFP’s Innovation Accelerator to resolve key humanitarian challenges.

After the program, WACC members are invited to stay online in the Zoom meeting for a reception. We will enable your microphone and camera for half an hour of networking and dialogue. 

This program is sponsored by the World Affairs Councils of America - Engage America Series.