Food Force Creators To Make Disaster Safety Game

Following World Food Programme's release of Food Force, which is designed to teach 8-13 year olds about hunger and humanitarian aid work, a new report from the Reuters Foundation's AlertNet service indicates that the United Nations has enlisted the organization to develop a new serious game as part of its campaign “to reduce the number of children killed in disasters when their schools collapse on them.” The effort by the U.N. includes an effort to educate children about disaster prevention by requesting governments in areas that are prone to natural disasters include the new game within school curriculum. Set to be released in October, the new game by WFP is being designed as a teaching tool for children so that they can learn how to stay safe in the event of a disaster. The report indicated that natural disasters are of a particular concern in areas such as Gujarat, where an earthquake killed 20,000 people in 1991. World Food Programme's experience in creating serious games for humanitarian aid is well documented with the success for Food Force, which has been played by at least four million people since its launch by the United Nations division in April 2005, and is currently available in five languages.