25 June, 2009

Japan Donates Food Aid worth Tk 61 crore to

WFP in Bangladesh

               Dhaka: Japan has contributed USD 8.89 million (61 crore Taka /850 million Japanese yen) of food assistance to the United Nations World Food Pgrogramme (WFP) in Bangladesh. The Japanese Ambassador H.E. Mr. Masayuki Inoue handed over of 7,260 Metric Tons rice to Mr. John Aylieff, WFP Representative in Bangladesh. The Japanese food assistance, through WFP, will assist 22,500 ultra poor households (total beneficiaries: 1,12,500) of the country to improve their health status and community infrastructure.

                    The Japanese assistance helps WFP to implement its Enhancing Resilience (ER) Activities which aims at strengthening the resilience of vulnerable households. The priority areas for ER are chosen in the most food insecure & flood prone districts/upazilas based on the poverty map and study report of the Institute of Water Modeling Committee (IWMC) using Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping. The program will be implemented in four districts: Kurigram, Sirajgonj, Jamalpur and Gaibandha.

                        At the handing over ceremony, His Excellency Mr. Masayuki Inoue, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh observed, “This Japanese grant re-confirms our continued support to the Government and the people of Bangladesh. We pledged to continuous support to extend our assistance to help people attain better food security and a more sustainable livelihood.”

               "We are very grateful for this substantial donation, which is coming at a critical time for Bangladesh’s poorest people,” said John Aylieff, WFP Bangladesh Representative, “The contribution will allow WFP to implement community-level projects aimed at disaster risk reduction, while addressing threats to human security posed in the aftermath of the high food price crisis and the impending global economic downturn”.

                       Japan has been one of the major donors of food aid to Bangladesh since its independence in 1971. So far this year, contributions from Japan to WFP globally have reached 179 million, making Japan WFP’s second largest donor. In 2008 Japan contributed over US$ 8.2 million to WFP in Bangladesh. The Government of Japan has been provided this aid to 21 countries around the world amounting US $124.2 million in order to feed the people of core poverty level.