Japan provides US$28 million for humanitarian food assistance in Ukraine
Lviv – The United Nations World Food Programme has welcomed an additional contribution of US$14 million from the Government of Japan to provide humanitarian food assistance to people affected by the conflict in Ukraine. This brings the total contribution by Japan for the Ukraine crisis to US$ 28 million.
The additional funding will enable WFP to scale up and respond to the humanitarian crisis, by providing in-kind food ration for 100,000 vulnerable people in the south of Ukraine, such as Odessa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson. Outside of Ukraine, food vouchers for hot meals will be provided at reception centres in Moldova, supporting 10,000 refugees and asylum seekers displaced by the war.
“The generous contribution from the Government of Japan comes at a critical time when vulnerable families are struggling to secure enough to eat amid the humanitarian catastrophe. This support will allow us to provide urgently needed life-saving assistance to people who are trapped inside Ukraine as well as those who crossed the border in search of safety,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
The earlier Japanese contribution focused on providing in-kind food assistance in north-eastern Ukraine, including Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv as well as food vouchers at transit points in Moldova.
One month into the conflict, WFP has provided emergency food assistance, including ready-to-eat food, bread and cash assistance, to one million people affected by the Ukraine crisis. WFP aims to support more than 3 million children, women and men, as well as 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers who fled to neighbouring countries.
WFP estimates almost half of the people in the country, or 45 percent, are worried about finding enough to eat. Food is one of the top three concerns for people, besides safety and fuel for transportation. The country’s food supply chain is broken with the existing systems that feed the tens of millions inside Ukraine are falling apart.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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