WFP welcomes EUR 25 million from the European Union for humanitarian multipurpose cash and food assistance in Ukraine and Moldova
LVIV – The United Nations World Food Programme welcomes a contribution of EUR 25 million from the European Union to provide humanitarian food assistance to people affected by the conflict in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. This funding contributes to the provision of multipurpose cash as well as immediate food relief to families in conflict-affected areas in Ukraine, and to displaced people from Ukraine in Moldovan transit sites and receptions centres.
As WFP continues to call on everyone to grant safe access to humanitarian relief operations in encircled and partially encircled cities in Ukraine, the generosity of WFP's partners is enabling us to scale up our response to the conflict, with the goal of supporting six million people caught up in the world's fastest-growing humanitarian crisis.
In Ukraine, families in conflict-affected areas are receiving food and ready-to-eat rations, while in areas where markets are functioning, multipurpose cash is being distributed so families can buy what they need most urgently. In Moldova, displaced people from Ukraine currently in transit sites and reception centres receive hot meals.
“We welcome this generous contribution from the European Union, which will help support the countless families who have had to flee for their lives and are struggling to put food on the table amid this humanitarian catastrophe,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “It’s thanks to partners like the EU, who have stepped up with immediate funding, that WFP has already reached 3.4 million people in Ukraine and Moldova since the start of the war. But millions more urgently need our help.”
“The European Union has been working around the clock to ensure that life-saving aid reaches civilians in Ukraine,” said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič. “Humanitarian partners like WFP continue to deliver urgently needed emergency assistance to the most vulnerable as we speak.”
Over 7.7 million people are displaced inside Ukraine and the pre-conflict supply chain systems for feeding the country’s population have broken down in many areas. WFP estimates almost half of the people in the country are worried about finding enough to eat.
The conflict in Ukraine is also triggering a wave of collateral hunger elsewhere in the world. Global food prices have increased sharply since the onset of the conflict and are now at an all-time high. These hikes are expected to further limit access to food for millions of people who are already under stress because of food inflation in their countries.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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