ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the World Food Programme (WFP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday for a grant of $422.78 million to the country for meeting emergency food needs arising from natural disasters and emergency conditions and supporting economic and social development projects.

The project titled ‘Transition: Towards Resilient and Food Secure Pakistan’ is aligned with national and international frameworks which support advances for food security and nutrition in Pakistan.

The project will run for three years, from January 2016 to December 2018, and enable the UN agency to maintain assistance to returning and dislocated people, address needs to improve food and nutrition security while simultaneously working alongside the government in the field of disaster risk reduction, capacity enhancement and technical assistance.

The project will run for three years — from Jan 2016 to Dec 2018

Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Tariq Bajwa and WFP’s acting Country Director Stephen Gluning signed the memorandum on behalf of their respective sides.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who witnessed the MoU signing ceremony, appreciated the role of the WFP as a valuable partner in handling emergency situations. He said the agreement would operationalise the WFP’s next programme in Pakistan.

The WFP had earlier spent $676m under its previous three-year programme ending in December 2015, out of which the government contributed 455,000 tons of wheat valued at $172m for distribution among the temporarily displaced persons (TDPs).

The acting country director assured the government of the WFP’s support in future and said the new programme would continue to contribute towards achieving food security in Pakistan.

He appreciated the government’s role as the largest host government donor in the world.

While appreciating the efforts of the government in the rehabilitation of the TDPs, he said the efficiency with which the government was dealing with the crisis could be used as a successful model in countries with similar situations.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2015