WFP Welcomes Indian Biscuit Donation for Afghan Children

Afghanistan is one of WFP's largest operations and requires an additional US$17 million over the next six months to provide 24,000 metric tons of food.

Afghan children in Kabul line up for aid administered by the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Photo by Tim King Salem-News.com

(KABUL, Afghanistan) - The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) today welcomed a US$12 million contribution from the Government of India that will be used to provide fortified biscuits made from Indian wheat to schoolchildren in Afghanistan.

The biscuits - produced in factories around New Delhi and Amritsar - will be shipped to Afghanistan through Pakistan, marking a major transportation breakthrough that opens a new route for humanitarian assistance from India.

"Thanks to the generosity of the Government of India, more than one and a half million schoolchildren in Afghanistan will receive a nutritious snack in school," said Rikki Maliklali, WFP Deputy Country Director in Afghanistan, adding that hunger negatively affects the development of the brain and limits a child's chances of educational success.

WFP school meals deliver nutrition and help improve the health of students by providing micronutrients, vitamins and minerals that help them reach their full mental and physical capacity. More than two million children currently receive WFP food assistance in Afghan schools.

To encourage attendance, WFP also provides 590,000 schoolgirls in the country with a four-litre tin of cooking oil to take home to their families. The oil serves as an extra incentive for parents to keep their daughters in school.

Low class enrollment is also being addressed in areas where food insecurity levels are especially high. In these areas, WFP provides some 761,000 boys and girls 25 kilograms of wheat in two installments at the beginning and end of the academic year to take home to their families.

Afghanistan is one of WFP's largest operations and requires an additional US$17 million over the next six months to provide 24,000 metric tons of food.

Donors to WFP's current three-year US$ 848 million relief and recovery operation in Afghanistan include the United States (US$304 million), the UN Central Emergency Response Fund – CERF (US$36 million), Canada (US$47 million), India (US$37 million), Japan (US$22 million), the Netherlands (US$19 million), Australia (US$19 million), Saudi Arabia (US$11 million), Italy US$6 million), Germany (US$8 million), United Kingdom (US$6 million) Switzerland (US$5 million), France (US$5 million), the Russian Federation (US$3 million), the European Commission (US$3 million), Luxembourg (US$3 million), Norway (US$3 million), Belgium (US$3 million), Spain (US$2 million), Denmark (US$2 million) and several others.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency and the UN's frontline agency for hunger solutions. This year, WFP plans to feed around 90 million people in 80 countries.

Source: UN