WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran to Helsinki – the humanitarian Food Force video game to be issued in Finnish

Press release 72/2007
30 April, 2007

Josette Sheeran, who was recently appointed Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), will visit Helsinki on 3–4 May. On Thursday, 3 May Sheeran will take part in joint Nordic discussions where representatives of the five Nordic countries discuss central themes of cooperation with the WFP. On Friday, 4 May Sheeran will meet with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, and Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, for bilateral talks.

During the visit, the Finnish-language version of Food Force, the humanitarian video game produced by the WFP, will be released. Food Force is designed especially for use as a classroom tool to teach about the fight against world hunger. The game is intended for children and adolescents aged 8–13 years.

Fida International, the Finnish missionary and development cooperation organization, was the cooperation partner and financier for the Finnish version. Finnish actors Kati Outinen, Mikko Leppilampi, Jasper Pääkkönen, Minna Haapkylä, Hannu-Pekka Björkman and Santeri Kinnunen donated the voice acting for the video game characters.

Lisätietoja:  www.wfp.org(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), www.wfp.fi(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), www.food-force.com(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

Contact persons: Mikael Bjerrum, Director of the WFP Nordic Office,[email protected], tel. +45 4011 3883; Ulla-Maija Finskas, Head of the Unit for Humanitarian Assistance, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6225