Donor Support Underpins WFP’s Assistance To Malian Refugees In Mauritania
NOUAKCHOTT – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes contributions from Canada, the European Union (ECHO), Germany, Japan, Spain and the United States Food for Peace (USAID/FFP), which have sustained assistance to refugees in Mauritania in 2017. The US$11.7 million in funding has allowed the agency to provide uninterrupted support to some 52,000 Malian refugees in Mbera camp.
“Despite funding shortfalls throughout 2017, these donors’ steadfastness has helped WFP stabilize the food and nutrition situation of the most vulnerable households in Mbera camp,” said Mauritania Country Director Jean-Noël Gentile. “Even so, more needs to be done to ensure no Malian or Mauritanian goes to bed hungry.”
In coordination with the Mauritanian Government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other partners, WFP continues to offer the Malian refugees in Mbera camp transfers of food and cash, school meals and nutrition support. WFP is also helping draft and implement a comprehensive long-term strategy to ensure both peoples,
Malians and Mauritanians, have their livelihoods protected, with stable, year-round access to food. As things stand, poor rainfalls and harvests have further impoverished the most vulnerable communities hosting refugees in the region of Hodh Ech-Charghi. Boosting community resilience and refugees’ self-reliance is critical for peaceful coexistence around Mbera camp.
WFP requires US$15.6 million to assist both Malian refugees and host Mauritanian communities living in Hodh Ech-Charghi for 2018.
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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food in emergencies and working with communities to build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.
To learn more about WFP activities in Mauritania: www.wfp.org/countries/mauritania
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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Vanessa Rizzi, WFP/Mauritania, Tel. +222 44400005
Simon Pierre Diouf, WFP/Dakar, Tel. + 221 778012221