UN accepts Trump nominee to head World Food Programme

GENEVA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - United ‌Nations chief ​Antonio Guterres ​has accepted Trump nominee Luke Lindberg from among dozens of candidates to lead the World Food Programme, a ‌document showed and a U.N. official confirmed on Tuesday.

• Lindberg, ⁠a senior U.S. agricultural official, was recommended by Guterres and Qu Dongyu, a Chinese ‌national heading the Food ‌and Agriculture Organization, according to a September 11 letter to the head of the WFP board.

• Some 54 candidates applied for ​the job, according to the letter, which did not name them. Nine were shortlisted.

• U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq confirmed to Reuters ⁠that the organisation had accepted a recommendation for the role from a hiring panel, transmitted ​that recommendation to the WFP, and was waiting for the board's response.

• A U.N. official said the nomination, ​first reported by Devex, was expected to ‌be confirmed by the WFP board on Friday.

• The White House and State Department had no immediate ⁠comment.

• Nearly 300 million people face crisis levels of hunger this year, the WFP says, with the Iran war exacerbating the situation.

• The ⁠World Food Programme, established as a joint project of the U.N. and the ​FAO, is aimed at providing an emergency response to global food shortages.

• Despite cuts by U.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S. remains the WFP's biggest donor, ‌and it has traditionally been led by an American from the Republican party.

• Some U.S. donations to ‌the Rome-based agency are in-kind or specify that food must be ⁠of U.S. origin, which also ‌provides support for U.S. agricultural ​businesses.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, Leah Douglas, David Brunnstrom and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by ‌Jan Harvey)

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