With new UN smartphone app, users can help feed Syrian refugee children with a simple tap

The ShareTheMeal app, developed by WFP, will let users virtually “share” their meals with a Syrian refugee. Users can participate whenever they want and wherever they are; while having dinner with friends or eating lunch at the office.

“The simple act of sharing a meal is how people all over the world come together,” Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said in anews release, adding that this new digital version of sharing a meal is a tangible way that Generation Zero Hunger can act to end hunger.

In the statement, WFP explained that even a donation as small as 0.50 cents will provide a child with vital nutrition for a day. All contributions will benefit Syrian refugee children in Jordan who are part of WFP’s school meals programme.

WFP believes the potential of ShareTheMeal is enormous, as worldwide there are 20 times as many smartphone users as there are hungry children. Based on tests launched in some European countries this past June, some 120,000 users provided more than 1.7 million meals for schoolchildren in the southern African country of Lesotho.

“With the global launch, smartphone users in many countries across the world can support hungry children,” said Sebastian Stricker, who founded ShareTheMeal.

WFP announced that this free app will be available for iOS and Android from 12 November, today, in app stores worldwide and at this link. It only takes 30 seconds to register and users can start sharing meals with hungry children and follow the impact of their donations.

Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa