Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar witnessed on Wednesday the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government of Pakistan and World Food Programme for US$ 422.78 million grant for supporting economic and social development projects in Pakistan and meeting emergency food needs arising from natural disasters/emergency conditions.
The MoU was signed by Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Secretary Tariq Bajwa and Acting Country Director, World Food Programe (WFP), Stephen Gluning.
Speaking on the occasion, the federal finance minister appreciated the role of WFP as a valuable partner in relief and emergency situations. He said the MoU operationalises WFP’s next programme in Pakistan, Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation 200867 titled “Transition: Towards Resilient and Food Secure Pakistan” which will run for three years from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2018”. The WFP had earlier spent US$ 676 million under its previous programme PRRO (2013-15) out of which the government of Pakistan contributed 455,000MT of wheat valued at US$ 172 million for distribution amongst temporarily displaced persons (TDPs).
The WFP acting country director assured that the government of Pakistan for its continuous support. He appreciated the role of government of Pakistan as the largest host government donor in the world. While appreciating the efforts of the government in the return and rehabilitation of the temporarily displaced persons (TDPs), he highlighted that the efficiency with which the government was dealing with the crisis could be used as a successful model in countries with similar situations.
“WFP Pakistan’s project (2016-2018) Transition: Towards Resilient and Food Secure Pakistan” is aligned with national and international frameworks which support advances in the state of food security and nutrition in Pakistan. This project will enable WFP to maintain assistance to returning and dislocated populations, address needs to improve food and nutrition security while simultaneously working alongside the government in the framework of disaster risk reduction, capacity enhancement and technical assistance. “We hope that this partnership will continue to contribute towards a resilient and food secure Pakistan,” the WFP acting country director added.
