DUBAI, 18th April, 2022 (WAM) — The 1 Billion Meals initiative, the largest campaign of its kind in the region to provide food support to disadvantaged and vulnerable communities in 50 countries, is supported by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), as well as international, regional and local partners.
These partners play an important role in its various operations aimed at providing the equivalent of one billion meals to the less fortunate, in particular children, refugees, internally displaced persons and those affected by humanitarian crises and disasters. natural around the world. The partners in the initiative are an integral part of the joint efforts to achieve a world with Zero Hunger, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2, by 2030.
This partnership is an extension of the existing joint efforts between Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), organizer of the 1 billion meals initiative, and the WFP, which was also a partner of the 100 million meals campaign of the last Ramadan, which succeeded in exceeding its target, collecting and distributing 220 million meals in 47 countries.
Mageed Yahia, WFP Representative to the GCC, said: “Our strategic partnership with the efforts of the 1 Billion Meals Initiative, the largest of its kind in the region to support the most vulnerable individuals and families suffering malnutrition, is a renewed cooperation with the MBRGI, which continues to support international efforts to help people suffering from hunger.
“Our cooperation with MBRGI in the 100 million meals campaign last year helped secure approximately 56.5 million meals in Palestine, Somalia and refugee camps in Jordan and Bangladesh, using advanced cash transfers which enabled beneficiaries to purchase a range of nutritious foods from local markets. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership together under the 1 Billion Meals initiative to address the challenge of global hunger” , he added.
For her part, Sara Al Nuaimi, Director of MBRGI, said: “MBRGI’s partnership with the World Food Program is ongoing and broadens the circle of beneficiaries of the 1 Billion Meals initiative, especially at a time when the challenges Hunger and malnutrition are on the rise, with its impact affecting more than 800 million people and threatening the lives of 10,000 children every day. »
She continued: “This multi-year partnership with WFP contributes to achieving Zero Hunger as part of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. We will continue to expand the circle of our regional partners and international partnerships to operationalize the UAE’s approach to sustainability in charitable and humanitarian work and to expand its frameworks and partnerships to the maximum.”
Alongside WFP, the group of operational partners of the 1 Billion Meals initiative includes the Regional Food Banks Network (FBRN), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charitable Establishment (MBRCH), the United Nations High for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Arab Emirates food bank, as well as local charitable, humanitarian and social institutions in the beneficiary countries.
