The United Nations World Food Programme has welcomed a generous donation by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to WFP programmes in Cambodia. The money will primarily benefit students in Cambodia by providing them with meals in school and food to take home to their families.
The cash donation worth US$ 440,000 will be used to purchase rice within Cambodia. Over 130,000 people are expected to benefit from the donation.
“This assistance is especially welcome as school feeding programmes in Cambodia have been facing a shortage of resources,” said Anthony Banbury, WFP Regional Director for Asia. “We are glad that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has chosen such a vitally-needed operation to support in its first donation to WFP targeted to Southeast Asia.”
Food purchased through the donation will support school feeding for 100,000 students in Kampong Chhang and Kampong Cham provinces over the coming months. Girls in selected schools will be given rations to take home to their families, benefiting an additional 28,000 people. Additionally, the food will be used to support 1,600 families that are participating in Food-for-Work projects in Kampong Chhang province.
School feeding programmes, which aim to boost attendance and enable children to concentrate on their lessons, are particularly important in Cambodia. The country has recently made considerable progress in expanding basic education, but 55 percent of students do not complete primary school, and roughly 10 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls aged between 6 and 11 years don’t attend school because they work to support their families.
The results of WFP’s work in this area have been positive: enrolment has increased by 8 percent over the last three years in schools with WFP school feeding programmes, which reached over 400,000 students in Cambodia last year.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been a major donor to WFP in the past, and in recent years has given US$3.5 million worth of food annually. Saudi Arabia also provided US$6.4 million in support to WFP operations in the Palestinian Territories in 2004.
"Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Humanity, wants to support all people in need, such as those in Cambodia, Pakistan and the Tsunami-hit countries. The Kingdom does not want to miss any country that needs its assistance," said Abdulaziz Arrukban, WFP's Special Ambassador.
“This contribution will be vital to WFP’s school feeding operations in Cambodia this year,” said Banbury. “We welcome the assistance and look forward to future cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to fight hunger in this region.”
