INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan has welcomed a contribution by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of $100 million
to help provide critical food assistance to more than 1.3 million people across the country.A special focus will be on widow- and
women-headed households and other highly vulnerable groups like people with disabilities or families surviving solely on begging
For many of these families, WFP has become their last lifeline.&Afghanistan has faced an unprecedented humanitarian crisis compounded by
climate change and intense droughts, floods, and earthquakes&, ADB said in a statement.&Women and children are disproportionately affected
with many women-led households suffering a lack of food and reduced access to services given women&s restrictions on movement outside their
homes.&With this contribution, WFP will also train food-insecure women on marketable and entrepreneurial skills and alternative livelihoods
along the agricultural value chain, such as fruit and vegetable processing.During the training, they will be supported with monthly cash
transfers, while improving their long-term livelihoods and ability to stand on their own feet and buy food for their families thanks to
their new skills.&This contribution comes at a critical moment for Afghanistan, where 15 million people are going hungry and WFP only can
still support three million people with emergency food assistance due to a massive funding crisis&, said Hsiao-Wei Lee, Country Director of
WFP Afghanistan.&We are grateful for this generous contribution from the Asian Development Bank that will help us reach families in need
starting before winter, when hunger bites hardest.&This is the second contribution from ADB to WFP in Afghanistan, following $135 million in
the past year which put it amongst the top five contributors
This year, ADB is the biggest partner of WFP, to date.The post ADB throws WFP a lifeline of $100 million for critical food aid in
Afghanistan first appeared on Ariana News.
