The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) chief executive, James Morris, has started a one-week tour of four southern African countries worst affected by hunger and HIV/AIDS.
In particular, "the mission will look at how the UN system and the international community can more effectively assist women, whose lives are more at risk from the disease," WFP said in a statement on Monday.
Morris is due to visit Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia, where the UN estimates that 15 million people's lives are threatened by a combination of severe food shortages and HIV/AIDS.
"The mission comes at a time when the UN Consolidated Appeal for Southern Africa for US $611 million remains seriously under-resourced, with only US $352-million in confirmed donations to date," WFP said.
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