The Share the Meal app intends to make it easy for people to help combat global hunger. Launched by the United Nations’ World Food Programme, and the first of its kind, the app lets people donate to the hungry with a single tap. Via ABC News:
The director of innovation and change management at the WFP, Robert Opp, said the war in Syria had led to a quadrupling in the demand for WFP programs to feed refugees fleeing conflict.
“We are trying to find ways to innovate, do things differently, so that we are able to actually speed up the progress we are making and get toward ending hunger by 2030,” he said. “So something like Share the Meal is an innovative way of reaching out to smartphone users who outnumber hungry children in the world by 20 to 1.”
The Share the Meal app gives people the option to donate 50 cents with a just a tap to WFP programs.
The Mr Opp said the app was developed in response to a $2 to $3 billion shortfall in WFP’s funding needs. “So to give you an idea, our estimated needs this year are around $7 to $8 billion and we’ve been receiving around $5 billion or so,” he said. “We have struggled in the Syria regional refugee operation in the past several months with receiving enough contributions to maintain a full ration and in some cases we’ve had to drop to part rations, in other cases we’ve had to start excluding certain people from receiving assistance.”