The Government of Japan has decided to extend food aid amounting 1,954 million yen through the World Food Programme (WFP). Notes to this effect were exchanged on March 18 (Fri) in Rome between Ms. Nobuko Matsubara, Japanese Ambassador to Italy, and Ms. Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director of the WFP.
The breakdown of this aid is as follows:
(1) For conflict-afflicted people in Palestinian territories (150 million yen)
(2) For conflict-afflicted people in the Republic of Congo (200 million yen)
(3) For vulnerable people in Mozambique (300 million yen)
(4) For conflict-afflicted people, including refugees, in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana (224 million yen)
(5) For conflict-afflicted people, including refugees, in West Africa region (Sierra Leone and Guinea) (310 million yen)
(6) For refugees in Great Lakes region (Burundi and Rwanda) (320 million yen)
(7) For vulnerable people in Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) (250 million yen)
(8) For vulnerable people in Georgia (100 million yen)
(9) For vulnerable people in Tajikistan (100 million yen)
More than 800 million people in the world are suffering from food shortage caused by conflicts and natural disasters such as drought. According to the WFP, the number of deaths from hunger and malnutrition-related diseases exceeds ten million annually. This means that more people are dying from hunger and malnutrition than in wars, indicating that hunger is an important issue that the world must tackle jointly, and Japan is in a position to contribute proactively while cooperating with the international community to solve these issues.
In Africa, conflicts in these regions as the Great Lakes and West Africa have caused food shortage among those affected, including refugees. Japan has decided to support the food aid programs of the WFP with a view to assisting post-conflict stability and reconstruction. To the Palestinian Administered Areas, Japan extends assistance to the programs of the WFP for the Palestinian population other than refugees (socially vulnerable people living in the West Bank and Gaza), taking into account the prevailing opportunity for the Middle East peace process. In Georgia and Tajikistan, internal conflicts since the independence have devastated the agricultural infrastructure, causing serious chronic food shortage. In the Central American region, flood and drought caused by recent extraordinary weather have caused food shortages. In response to the appeals issued by the WFP, Japan has decided to provide grant aid to the WFP to purchase grains such as rice and wheat to these countries and regions, with a view to contributing to stability and development in these regions as well as from a humanitarian point of view.
It is hoped that the food aid would alleviate the food shortage of these regions around the world.