The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) lauded a US$ 16.8-million contribution from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) to assist Syrian refugees in Jordan and to support nutrition programmes for women and children in Pakistan.
The contribution, signed in Rome by WFP Executive Director David Beasley and KSrelief’s Supervisor-General, Abdullah Al Rabeeah, comes as WFP struggles to secure funds to continue supporting some 465,000 vulnerable refugees in Jordan – most of them from Syria – and assisting more than 66,000 of the most vulnerable children and women in Pakistan, according to a statement by the WFP’s office in Amman.
Out of the donation, US$12.8 million, will be allocated to help meet the monthly food needs of 112,000 Syrian refugees living in camps in Jordan for four months; and US$ 4 million will support WFP’s nutrition programmes in 14 of the most vulnerable districts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) provinces, the statement noted.
“Building on our long-lasting and strong partnership with WFP, KSrelief reconfirms its commitment to join hands with WFP to address food insecurity and improve the health and living conditions of vulnerable communities around the world”, said Al Rabeeah, speaking from Rome where he addressed the opening session of WFP’s Executive Board meeting.
For his part, Beasley said: “The COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic fallout have pushed the most vulnerable communities in Jordan and Pakistan deeper into poverty, as many of them are struggling to survive day-to-day and cannot cope without assistance.”
Source: Jordan News Agency