UAE food drive, WFP distribute 4.7mn meals to refugees in Jordan

Dubai / WAM

Food aid operations of the “100 Million Meals” campaign have been completed in two refugee camps in Jordan, providing over 4.7 million meals in cooperation with the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
The massive distribution comes a month after the 100 Million Meals campaign concluded, securing 216 million meals, double its target, to vulnerable communities in 30 countries across four continents.
In collaboration with the WFP, about 52,000 Syrian individuals and families in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan received reloadable food e-vouchers, equivalent to 4.7 million meals raised from the campaign, to empower them to purchase their food at contracted shops.
The campaign’s organiser Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) signed a partnership with the WFP to provide food aid to refugees in Jordan and Bangladesh and low-income individuals and families in Palestine.
In Jordan, the WFP completed the food aid distribution to Syrian refugees in both camps, where it has been providing monthly food assistance to vulnerable families and individuals since 2012.
The e-voucher programme facilitated quick and reliable access to beneficiaries in Jordan within just one month. Equipped with innovative biometric identification, the e-voucher system enables beneficiaries to choose food products from a wide network of shops and bakeries operating in the camps.
Besides ensuring access to a variety of fresh produce that provides for a healthy and balanced diet, e-vouchers are channels to inject income back into the local economy.
Sara Al Nuaimi, Director at the MBRGI, said that the campaign goal is to provide direct and quick access to a large scope of beneficiaries in disadvantaged communities
covered by the campaign. Completing the food distribution with WFP in Jordan within just one month reflects the efficiency of the logistical network set by the campaign.
Al Nuaimi noted that food distribution with WFP is underway in Bangladesh and Palestine, to reach a total of 399,000 beneficiaries in the three countries including
Jordan.
Mageed Yahia, WFP Director in the UAE and Representative to the GCC, said, “the timely contribution of the 100 Million Meals campaign enabled WFP to continue supporting vulnerable people in Jordan’s Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps.
The outbreak of Covid-19 prompted severe funding shortfalls for the WFP, cutting vital assistance to 210,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan earlier in July. About 68% of refugees in Jordan had their incomes dropped during that time.”
As part of the campaign, the WFP is currently providing food aid through e-vouchers to beneficiaries in Palestine, including 207,000 people in Gaza and 103,000 people in the West Bank. It is also assisting some 36,000 people in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
According to 2021 WFP figures, more than 270 million people in over 80 countries where the programme operates are facing acute food insecurity. The UN estimates the number of undernourished people across the world to be more than 690 million.