UN food agency receives funding boost to feed 750,000 displaced Iraqis
27 May 2008 - Thanks to a $40 million funding boost from the Iraqi Government, the United Nations World Food Programme will be able
to feed up to 750,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) for the next six months.
Noting that the Iraqi contribution - the largest the Government has contributed to any UN agency - came "at a crucial
time," WFP Iraq Country Director Stefano Porretti said that "the donation shows the Government's commitment to support
all Iraqis, particularly those not covered by the Government-run food distribution system.
Iraqi IDPs are not eligible for food rations under that system because they have left the governorate where they are
registered.
WFP launched a $133.5 million regional scheme this year to feed 1.2 million Iraqis displaced within their own country
and in Syria. As a result of the funds, the Iraqi portion of the programme is now 85 per cent funded, but the Syrian
part for 360,000 people still faces a 45 per cent shortfall.
Mr. Porretti said that the agency is considering using some of the cash to purchase food inside Iraq in a bid to curb
transport costs and spur the local economy, but this depends on access and security conditions as WFP's ability to
operate in Iraq has been severely curtailed.
So far, out of the planned 750,000 beneficiaries, WFP - in collaboration with government and humanitarian partners - has
reached nearly 400,000 and is distributing food in 16 of Iraq's 18 governorates.
For the past several days, a ceasefire in Sadr City in Baghdad has generally been holding, and Mr. Porretti said that if
this security improvement was reflected across Iraq, the Government's recent funding contribution to WFP would allow the
agency to reach all beneficiaries in the next five to six months.
ENDS