Final Part Of 21,800-Ton US wheat Donation Offloaded In Yemen’s Hudaydah Port
SANA’A – The US bulk carrier, MV Captain Steven L. Bennett, has discharged its cargo of 7,300 metric tons of wheat in the Yemeni port of Hudaydah, the final part of a 21,800-metric ton donation of wheat to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) from the United States Government’s Food for Peace office.
The wheat will be distributed by WFP, as part of food rations to some of the 2.8 million severely food insecure Yemenis it is assisting under its emergency safety net in 2014. These are people who struggle to buy or produce enough food for a healthy life on a daily basis. The previous shipments, totalling around 14,500 metric tons, are destined for internally displaced people.
“This latest shipment ensures that we can meet all our food needs under our current emergency operation,” said WFP Country Director Bishow Parajuli. “WFP is grateful to the Government and people of the United States for their consistent support in helping us meet this crucial challenge.”
The United States is a key donor to WFP activities in Yemen. Last year, it provided WFP with more than US$68.5 million worth of food, enough to feed more than three million hungry Yemenis for six months.
In July, WFP Yemen is launching a new Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO), which aims to provide assistance to some six million people, covering a range of interventions including food and cash distributions, food or cash for work and assets, treatment and prevention of acute and chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, and meals and take-home rations for children regularly attending school.
In 2013, WFP’s operations in Yemen reached nearly five million people, through emergency food assistance, cash transfers, food assistance to IDPs and returnees, nutritional support for children under five and pregnant women and nursing mothers, as well as refugees.
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WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. On average, WFP reaches more than 90 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year.
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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Robin Lodge, WFP/Sana’a, Tel. +967-1-214100 ext. 2111, Mob. +967-738611778
Fares Khoailed, WFP/Sana’an, Tel. +967-1-214100 ext. 2112, Mob. +967-734163556