Location: Zambia
NCHELENGE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of $610,000 from the United States (US), which will help provide cash assistance to 16,500 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) residing in the U.N. World Food Programme-supported Mantapala settlement.
“We are grateful for the generosity and continued support of the US. This support reaffirms their commitment to ensuring the food and nutrition security of DRC refugees in Zambia,” said Jayoung Lee, U.N. World Food Programme Deputy Country Representative in Zambia. “This funding arrives at a critical time. The influx of refugees has been steadily increasing throughout 2020, pushing up the need for food and nutrition assistance.”
Through the provision of cash-based transfers, this contribution from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will allow refugees to buy different types of food from the local markets and to choose what they wish to eat. In addition to supporting a more diverse diet, the cash assistance will also help stimulate local markets and foster peaceful coexistence between the refugees and host community.
The U.N. World Food Programme started to gradually transition refugees from food to cash assistance in May 2020, reaching almost the entire population in the Mantapala settlement by January 2021. Only families headed by children, those that could not be provided with an ID or a SIM card, those temporarily absent from the settlement and people staying at the transit centres continue to receive food. Each refugee receives ZMW 187 (approximately $9) per month, equivalent to the value of the in-kind food assistance, which can be spent on food and other essential goods.
The U.N. World Food Programme’s assistance has helped stabilize and maintain refugees’ food security in the settlement. “While the U.N. World Food Programme’s support currently remains the refugees’ main source of food, together with partners we are exploring options to support refugees’ livelihoods and their self-reliance beyond food assistance to help further improve their access to more diverse foods,” Ms. Lee said.
The US has been supporting the U.N. World Food Programme’s refugee operations in Zambia since 2018, when the Mantapala Refugee Settlement was established by the Government of Zambia following the large refugee influx from DRC that began in August 2017.
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LUSAKA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a $3.39 million contribution from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help meet the immediate food needs of drought-affected people in Zambia.
The US support, confirmed in December 2019, comes at a moment of increasing needs, after drought and prolonged dry spells have left 2.3 million people severely food insecure and in need of assistance. Through this funding, WFP will deliver 2,380 metric tons of beans to complement the Government’s corn supply for three months, giving 255,000 drought-affected people across the country the food and nutritional assistance they need.
“WFP requires $36 million to effectively support the Government in responding to the crisis. USAID’s contribution represents approximately 10 percent of the total needs and will allow WFP to ensure that drought-affected people will not go to bed hungry during this year’s lean season,’’ said Jennifer Bitonde, WFP’s Country Representative in Zambia.
WFP is currently supporting the Government’s response by delivering government-supplied corn meal, as well as by procuring and delivering beans to ensure a nutrition-sensitive food basket. WFP is also working closely with partners to monitor food distributions and guarantee that resources reach those most in need.
About 1.1 million people are expected to receive WFP’s support, while the remaining 1.2 million will be assisted by the Government and other partners with whom WFP is working.
The United States is also one of the main donors to WFP’s response in support of the refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is the other component of WFP’s crisis response in Zambia. In 2019, WFP supported about 14,000 refugees.
“We are thankful for the United States’ continuous collaboration and efforts towards achieving Zero Hunger in Zambia,” said Ms. Bitonde.
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, natural disasters and the impact of climate change.
Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA, @WFP_Africa and @wfp_media
For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org): Paola Di Tommaso, WFP/Lusaka, Mob. +260971020341
As millions of children in the U.S. return to the classroom this fall, the team at World Food Program USA remembers the nearly 60 million children worldwide who are unable to attend school as a result of poverty, hunger and conflict.
To understand just how many boys and girls across the globe are kept out of the classroom each year, UNICEF—one of WFP’s many partners in the field—recently launched an interactive illustration comparing school attendance rates among urban and rural communities, wealthy and impoverished countries and boys versus girls.
The numbers are startling. In Bangladesh, for example, nearly half of all children who enter school drop out before graduation. Among the Arab states, Yemen has the highest number of out-of-school children after Sudan. In Zambia, where the HIV/AIDS infection rate is among the highest in the world, children are often kept out of the classroom to work and take care of sick relatives.
But there is cause for hope too. In Cambodia, the number of out-of-school children has dropped by more than half in the past decade. In Senegal, the number of girls enrolled in school has been steadily rising.
As the world’s largest provider of school meals, WFP is working to get more children back in school by providing a nourishing meal in the classroom. Each year, WFP reaches more than 18 million boys and girls in the world’s poorest schools with a nourishing meal to feed their bodies and fuel their minds.
School meals encourage families to keep their children in school by easing the burden of putting food on the table. They also boost attendance and graduation rates by giving students the nutrition they need to stay healthy, strong and focused on their studies. By promoting education and providing good nutrition, WFP is empowering the next generation of inventors, artists and leaders.
Every child, no matter where they come from or what language they speak, all have one thing in common: Potential. Potential for greatness. Potential to change the world as we know it.
Here at World Food Program USA, we know future greatness is all around us. And the key to unlocking that greatness is a good education.