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YOKOHAMA – The United Nations World Food Programme has welcomed a contribution of around US$ 100 million from the Government of Japan to fight hunger and malnutrition amid the global food crisis. The emergency grant is roughly half of the US$200 million that Japan pledged at the recent G7 summit in Elmau, Germany.
Of the Japanese contribution, US$ 68 million will be used to support 30 countries’ response to deteriorating global food security. The crisis, caused by a combination of conflict, climate shocks and COVID-19, has been exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine, which has pushed up global food, fuel and fertilizer prices, intensifying the pressure on the world’s most vulnerable people.
To respond to urgent needs, US$ 10 million will be used to provide food and nutrition assistance in Afghanistan where 18.9 million people, or almost half of the population face acute food insecurity and require food assistance.
In Ethiopia, which is grappling with food insecurity due to a conflict in the north and drought in the south, US$ 6.5 million will be channeled into emergency food assistance. The grant will also enable WFP to provide emergency food assistance in Syria and South Sudan, which will each receive US$ 6 million.
“The generous contribution by the Government of Japan comes at a critical time when the world is facing unprecedented needs. We are grateful for the grant, which will enable us to provide life-saving food assistance to vulnerable people who are pushed to the brink of starvation,” said Naoe Yakiya, the Director of the WFP Japan Relations Office.
The world is facing a food crisis of unprecedented proportions this year, with a record 345 million people across 82 countries facing acute food insecurity, up from 276 million at the start of the year. Millions will be driven into starvation unless action is taken now to respond at scale as the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine drive up prices.
The countries benefitting from the US$ 68million contribution are:
Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
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