The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed today a first-ever contribution from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) of US$300,000 to support the UN food agency’s work in Somalia, Benin and Yemen.
The donation, which is from the OIC’s Islamic Solidarity Fund, includes US$200,000 for Somalia, US$50,000 for Benin and US$50,000 to assist Somali refugees in Yemen.
WFP Somalia Country Director Peter Goossens said the US$200,000 for Somalia would help ease the pressure on WFP’s food supplies.
WFP aims to feed a total of 1.2 million people in Somalia in 2007. This includes people who fled their homes in Mogadishu during recent fighting and farming families short of food in the Middle and Lower Shabelle regions in the south of the country because of rain shortfalls, insecurity and an influx of displaced people.
In addition to its operations in Somalia, WFP has been since 1992 providing assistance to Somali refugees who have fled to nearby Yemen. Its current operation -- valued at about US$3.6 million -- provides some 34,000 Somali refugees, including women, children and new arrivals, with a total of 6,346 metric tonnes of food.
The US$50,000 donation to Benin comes at a key moment with people suffering from devastating floods. WFP already provides daily meals for 60,000 pupils across the country. WFP also assists 90,000 internally displaced people and refugees in Benin and Togo, as well as 24,000 people living with HIV/AIDS.
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