WFP Reiterates Commitment To Supporting Rohingya Refugees In Bangladesh

Meeting with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, in Rome on Monday, Beasley thanked her Government for its support to people fleeing violence in Myanmar.

“WFP has been there from day one of this crisis, nearly six months ago, giving food to those who lost everything and fled for their lives. We couldn’t have done it without the generosity of our donors, or without the support of the Government of Bangladesh,” said Beasley.

He added that WFP would continue to help the Rohingya refugees and work with the Government of Bangladesh. Beasley also expressed optimism that the donor community would continue to support the work of organizations such as WFP and help the Rohingya as long as the need remained.

As many as 726,600 refugees have benefitted from WFP’s latest round of food distributions; some 113,000 women and young children have received special nutritious food. A further 90,000 people are enrolled in WFP’s e-voucher programmes, which enables them to shop for food in designated local stores. WFP needs US$27.3 million every month to carry out its work in Cox’s Bazar.

WFP is grateful for contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Union (ECHO), Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Switzerland, Thailand, the UK, the USA and private and corporate donors.

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WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Shelley Thakral, WFP/Cox’s Bazar, Mob.+88 01755 64 2150

Silke Buhr, WFP/Bangkok, Mob. +66-81-701-9208

Jane Howard, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 65132321, Mob. +39 346 7600521

Francis Mwanza, WFP/London, Tel.  +44 20 3857 7411, Mob.  +44 7968 008474

Bettina Luescher, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41 22 917 8564, Mob. + 41-79-842-8057

Steve Taravella, WFP/New York, Tel. +1-646-556-6909, Mob. 1-202-770-5993

Challiss McDonough, WFP/Washington DC, Tel. +1-202-653-1149, Mob. +1-202-774-4026