"The consequences of war become tangible here"
May 5, 2026
The President meets with the UN World Food Programme.
The President of Iceland, Halla Tómasdóttir, Guðmundur Árnason, Ambassador in Rome, Rania Dagash-Kamara, and Carl Skau at the WFP.
The President visited the headquarters of the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome and familiarized herself with its operations. The visit was the final item on the agenda of the President’s two-day working trip to Italy.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is defined as a humanitarian organization that fights hunger around the world. Among WFP’s objectives are saving lives in emergencies, reducing the risk of malnutrition and hunger, and enabling individuals, communities, and countries to meet their own nutritional needs. WFP is regarded as one of Iceland’s most important partners in the fields of development cooperation and humanitarian affairs.
Among those whom the President and Guðmundur Árnason, Iceland’s ambassador, met at the headquarters in Rome were Carl Skau, one of WFP’s Deputy Executive Directors; Rania Dagash-Kamara, Assistant Executive Director; and Marco Calacante, who is in charge of, among other things, policy development. The President expressed her gratitude to WFP for its extensive work over many years, which has never been more urgent than now. “The consequences of war become disturbingly tangible here, when one visits the United Nations World Food Programme and learns about the direct impact of ruthless military conflicts on innocent children and civilians,” she said, among other remarks.
Carl Skau and the President discussed in particular Iceland’s support for WFP operations, including school feeding projects in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. It was noted that these programmes not only promote students’ health but are, in some cases, a prerequisite for children, especially girls, to be able to pursue education. Skau and the President agreed that projects of this kind can also be crucial for the resilience and long-term sustainability of the communities involved.
Last year, Iceland was the fourth-largest contributor to WFP relative to population size, and it is worth noting that individuals can also support its work through donations.
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