Through its Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office the Government of the United Kingdom, welcomes a commitment of GBP25 million (about US$28.8 million) to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) (FCDO), a press release from WFP states.
The money will support WFP‘s emergency programs for the 15 million Afghans who will experience food insecurity this winter.
The already grim situation for many Afghan families is set to get worse in the coming months after they have endured a year of unheard-of economic hardship and natural disasters including drought, earthquakes, and flooding. Another brutal winter will leave millions of households with almost little means to survive, and WFP has begun stepping up its aid efforts nationwide.
WFP Afghanistan has now received GBP184 million from FCDO from November 2021 with the most recent contribution. It would allow WFP to offer food and nutrition assistance to 400,000 people who are severely food insecure through in-kind food distributions and 250,000 people through monthly cash transfers that are given to families directly to help them meet their food needs in regions where markets are operating. Thanks to the support, WFP will be able to distribute 16,000 metric tons of nutrient-balanced food items as well as US$ 9.3 million in cash.
WFP is one of the few remaining obstacles separating Afghanistan from complete famine and desperation, according to Afghanistan’s Country Director Mary-Ellen McGroarty.
She acknowledged the British Government as a longtime partner of WFP and expressed gratitude for supporting the Afghan people.
In the upcoming months, when hunger will strike hardest, the most recent donation will enable WFP to assist tens of thousands of vulnerable families.
WFP has provided cash-based transfers, emergency food and nutrition aid, and livelihood support to 21.9 million people since the year’s beginning. Before winter and ice render many areas inaccessible, WFP is already prepositioning a targeted 150,000 mt of food and nourishing supplies in key places across the nation.
