WFP: $1 million Japanese grant for Darfur displaced

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan has welcomed a contribution of $1 million from the Government of Japan to support food assistance activities in Darfur.

In a press statement on Wednesday, WFP Sudan said that this contribution will enable the organisation to provide vouchers to approximately 10,000 displaced people in West and South Darfur through food-for-training and/or food-for-asset projects.

“This contribution allows us to help vulnerable families meet their food needs during the lean season while at the same time learning new skills or carrying out work that will have a lasting impact on their communities. This is a win-win situation for all of us,” said WFP Representative and Country Director Adnan Khan.

The Government of Japan has always shown strong support to WFP Sudan. Since 2007, Japan has contributed $126 million to WFP’s emergency operations in Sudan, in addition to $20 million for common services that benefit the entire humanitarian community such as the building of roads and provision of a safe and reliable air service (UNHAS).

“Prolonged conflicts have not only affected agriculture, but also reduced access to wage labour, both of which limit food access for IDPs (internally displaced people) and low income host community households. I am very pleased to provide food assistance to IDPs through Food Assistance for Assets and Food Assistance for Training via voucher modality, which promote their self-sufficiency,” said Japan’s Ambassador to Sudan, Hideki Ito.

In July 2015, WFP launched a new two-year plan in Sudan to provide 5.2 million people by mid-2017 with life-saving food assistance, nutrition support as well as recovery and resilience-building activities to help communities become self-reliant. This includes 1.3 million displaced people in Darfur who will receive WFP assistance in 2016 – nearly half a million of them through Cash Based Transfers (CBTs).

“Thanks to this timely contribution from the Japanese people and their government, we will be able to provide assistance to families who would otherwise struggle to provide food for themselves through the lean season,” said Khan.