Africa-Press – Uganda. The new United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Uganda Country Representative, Mr Abdirahman Meygag has taken charge of his office after replacing the former long serving country representative Mr Khidir Daloum whose tour of duty expired last month.
Meygag was on Monday introduced to Uganda’s ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Meygag committed to strengthening WFP’s collaboration with the Government of Uganda and pledged to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and National Development Plan III.
“I am looking forward to nurturing this relationship and bringing Uganda closer to achieving zero hunger for everyone,” said Mr. Meygag.
“On the journey to zero hunger, we need strong partnerships. The demographics of hunger change every day and we need strong knowledge to face these changing dynamics. Strong knowledge comes from strong partnerships.”
Mr Meygag said access to adequate nutritious food is linked to other Sustainable Development Goals and pledged to work with other UN agencies to support government to save and change lives.
He said even with funding shortfalls, WFP is providing monthly food assistance, in-kind and through cash-based transfers, to almost 1.3 million refugees and asylum seekers in settlements around Uganda.
“Earlier this year, WFP also provided emergency general food assistance in response to alarming levels of food and nutrition insecurity in Karamoja region. When schools closed due to Covid-19, WFP replaced hot school meals with take home rations to reduce drop-out rates and ensure learners can still have a meal while at home,” he said.
“WFP is working closely with the government to strengthen its social protection systems and make them more responsive to natural shocks. This support is possible with funding from Canada, China, Germany, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and United States of America,’’ he noted.
Foreign Affairs minister, Gen Jeje Odongo called upon Mr Meygag to continue the WFP tradition of collaborating with government to ensure access to food for refugees and those most affected by hunger and climate change.
The WFP 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.
Donor contributions to WFP Uganda so far this year include $1.6m from Canada, $2m from People’s Republic of China, $5.3m from the European Commission (ECHO), $5.5m from Germany, $1m from Japan, $2.4m from Republic of Ireland, 4,500 metric tonnes of rice worth $4.1m from Republic of Korea, $6.5m from Sweden, $7.1m from United Kingdom and $62m from the United States of America.
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