56 years for the UN World Food Programme in partnership with the Egyptian government
The UN World Food Programme works to support Egyptian efforts in the field of aid and nutrition and has supported 200,000 refugees in five years. It has also cooperated with other organisations to empower young people and women in Egypt. Our correspondent in Egypt, Ahmad Abdel-Rahman reports.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Egypt stressed the joint, and strong, long-term cooperation with the Egyptian government, pointing out that over the last five years, the WFP has worked with the Egyptian government to implement programmes worth millions of dollars. These programmes aimed to complement the efforts of the Egyptian government and support more than 2 million Egyptians and more than 200,000 refugees by securing basic food needs, building resilience, improving employment prospects, and strengthening national institutional capacities.
The WFP in Egypt was established in 1968. According to statements recently published in Egyptian newspapers, one of the most important issues that the programme is working on is supporting the Egyptian government in its efforts with refugees and migrants. The programme provides support to more than 200,000 refugees from more than nine countries, including Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Eritrea, to ensure that their basic needs are met.
There is also vocational training for crisis-affected communities, refugees and host community members, to help enhance their employability and thus their monthly cash transfers, allowing refugees to meet their basic food needs. The necessary proper nutrition is also provided, for pregnant and lactating refugees who have children two years old or younger.
Moreover, there is the National School Nutrition Programme that is supported by the WFP in Egypt. It provides nutritious snacks daily, about 25 percent of a child's daily calorie needs, to community school students in rural areas. These snacks, which come in the form of biscuits fortified with vitamins and iron, also encourage regular school attendance, thus combating child labour and early marriage. Cash assistance is also provided to families of community schoolchildren conditional on an attendance rate of at least 80 percent.
The WFP, in cooperation with the Egyptian government, has also introduced modern educational technology by providing tablets and interactive screens. These enhance teachers' capabilities to manage the interactive classroom.
The WFP has also praised the Solidarity and Dignity Programme, which supports pregnant and lactating women, and children under the age of two through the "First Thousand Days" initiative. WFP provides food aid conditional on medical examinations to encourage regular health monitoring during pregnancy and a follow-up of the child's healthy development. The capabilities of health care providers are also strengthened through this programme.
The WFP, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, supports youth empowerment programmes, including people with disabilities which target people between the ages of 19 to 35 years. Vocational training programmes and on-the-job learning opportunities are also provided after which young people are connected to various entrepreneurship and financial services companies to help enhance their employability.
The WFP also implements programmes for the economic and financial inclusion of women in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, especially in rural areas. Through these programmes, women are provided with business training and specialised vocational training as needed. Small loans are then provided to some of the trained women to start small projects that increase their family income and improve the living conditions of their families and children.
Since 2015, WFP has built the capacity of 70,000 women in rural areas, of whom approximately 30,000 have received microloans and started income-generating projects.
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