SAUDI ARABIA DONATES DATES WORTH KSH. 56 MILLION FOR REFUGEES IN KENYA

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The World Food Programme (WFP) in Kenya has received dates worth US$671,000 (about Ksh. 56 million) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab camps. The 200 metric tonnes (mt) are part of a 4000 mt dates donation to WFP programmes in various countries.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is pleased to support WFP in the fight against hunger and commends the organisation for the support it is giving to people who need food assistance,” said Ambassador Ghorm Said Malhan during a handover ceremony at the WFP offices.

Thanking the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their support, WFP's Country Director Ronald Sibanda, pointed out for the last four years, the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have donated dates to refugees in Kenya each year.

“The WFP food basket normally consists of cereals, pulses, vegetable oil and salt, so the refugees in Kenya always look forward to having the dates as they provide additional variety and dietary diversity,” he said.

WFP has been providing food assistance to refugees in Kenya since 1991 when the first camp was set up in Kakuma. Currently there are about 580,000 refugees in both Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps who are receiving food assistance from WFP.

Since the beginning of this year, Kakuma has been receiving an increased number of refugees mainly from Sudan and South Sudan. Due to the growing numbers, WFP continuously faces the challenge of ensuring that there are enough resources to provide food assistance to the growing population.