The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | Ronald Musoke | Abdirahman Meygag has replaced El-Khidir Daloum as the new United Nations World Food Programme Representative in Uganda. Meygag started work at the beginning of August after presenting his credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala.
Gen. Abubaker Jeje Odongo, Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed Meygag and urged him to “continue in the WFP tradition of collaborating with the government to ensure refugees and people most affected by hunger and climate change have access to food.”
“The Government of Uganda will continue to work closely with WFP. As government, we shall continue to do our part – and we need you to work with us. We need to work together to support and improve food security,” said Gen. Odongo Jeje.
Meygag pledged his commitment to strengthen WFP’s collaboration with the government of Uganda. He also said he would work to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Uganda’s third National Development Plan.
“I am looking forward to nurturing this relationship and bringing Uganda closer to achieving zero hunger for everyone,” he said. “On the journey to zero hunger, we need strong partnerships.
The demographics of hunger change every day, and we need strong knowledge to face these changing dynamics. Strong knowledge comes from strong partnerships.”
Meygag noted how access to adequate nutritious food is linked to other Sustainable Development Goals and pledged to work with other UN agencies to support government in saving lives.
Despite WFP’s ever dwindling financial resources, the UN agency continues to offer support to close to 1.3 million refugees and asylum seekers living in settlements around Uganda.
At the beginning of this year, WFP also provided emergency food assistance in response to the alarming levels of food and nutrition insecurity in the northeastern Uganda region of Karamoja.
When schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WFP replaced hot school meals with take home rations to reduce drop-out rates and ensure learners can still have a meal while at home.
Besides providing nutritious food rations to refugees living in Uganda, the WFP also provides agricultural and market support to smallholder farmers, buying food from them for its school feeding programme where possible.
WFP uses its supply chain and logistics expertise to transport food and other commodities such as medical equipment to support government emergency response. WFP is also working closely with the government to strengthen its social protection systems and make them more responsive to natural shocks.
This support is made possible with funding from several donor countries and international agencies. According to the WFP Uganda country office, donor contributions to the UN agency so far this year have come from Canada (US$ 1.6 million), China (US $ 2 million), the European Commission (US $ 5.3 million), Germany (US$ 5.5 million), Japan (US$ 1 million), Ireland (US$ 2.4), South Korea (4,500 metric tonnes of rice worth US$ 4.1 million), Sweden (US$ 6.5 million), the UK (US$ 7.1 million) and the United States (US$ 62 million).
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