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2009-01-27
WFP News Release.
<br />
The Food Aid Organization of the United Nations,
COLOMBO.
<br /><br />
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a vital
contribution from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
consisting of US$6.9 million (Rs 785.22 million) worth of lentils, vegetable oil and wheat.
The food will be distributed to displaced and conflict-affected people in the northern part of
Sri Lanka.
<br /><br />
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake handed over the donation - which included 1,344
metric tons (MT) of lentils, 779 MT of vegetable oil and 4,270 MT of wheat - at the WFP
Logistics Hub in Wellampitiya. Mr. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and
Disaster Relief Services, Mr. W.K.K. Kumarasiri, Secretary of the Ministry of Nation
Building & Estate Infrastructure Development (MNBEID) and Mr. Adnan Khan, WFP
Country Director, accepted the donation on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka.
<br /><br />
“We are grateful for this donation from the United States to help feed the hungry in Sri
Lanka,” said Adnan Khan. “The US is the largest donor to WFP Sri Lanka, particularly for
our emergency operations,” he continued, adding that the donation will enable WFP to feed
430,000 people for more than five months under WFP’s Vulnerable Group Feeding Program.
<br /><br />
“This is a heightened time to support the internally displaced persons (IDPs). US support is
crucial in this respect. WFP and the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services
have collaborated in supporting the IDPs. I look forward to continuing this cooperation,” said
Rishad Bathiudeen.
<br /><br />
Mr. Kumarasiri thanked Ambassador Blake for this generous donation. “This donation is very
timely as we need these food commodities for the emergency programme in the North. I
appreciate this gesture of goodwill from the American people.”
<br /><br />
“The U.S. Government is pleased to support WFP’s efforts to provide emergency food aid to
Sri Lankans severely affected by the conflict,” stated U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake.
“Through USAID, in 2008 the American people donated nearly 22,000 tonnes of food relief
valued at US$19 million (Rs 2.162 billion) to help the people of Sri Lanka during these
challenging times. We are glad we can make a difference in so many people’s lives, but we
are also hopeful that the conditions will improve soon for the people who are most vulnerable
in this conflict,” he continued.
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WFP is assisting the Government of Sri Lanka in feeding 1.1 million people through the
emergency feeding programme and recovery programmes including food-for-education, foodfor-
work and mother-and-child health and nutrition. WFP is presently facing a shortfall of
US$68 million for its Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) “Food for
Peacebuilding and Recovery in Conflict-Affected areas” this year. |
US Ambassador Robert Blake (far right) symbolically hands over US$6.9 million (Rs785 million) worth of food aid from USAID to Mr. W.K.K. Kumarasiri, Secretary MNBEID, and Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services. WFP Representative/Country Director Mr. Adnan Khan looks on from behind.
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