Japan to provide $4.4 million to WFP's lifesaving food assistance for Rohingya
The government of Japan has provided a new contribution to the World Food Programme's life-saving food assistance for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
"Following the $1 million emergency food assistance in March of this year, we are pleased to announce our decision to provide $4.4 million in life-saving food assistance to the Rohingya through the WFP," said Kiminori Iwama, ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, in a statement on Tuesday (13 June).
"We hope this grant will help alleviate the severe food crisis in the camps. Japan will continue to work towards a durable settlement, including repatriation to Myanmar, and will cooperate with international organisations, including the WFP, to improve the lives of the refugees and the host communities," he said.
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"Due to a lack of funding, in March, the WFP's food assistance for the entire Rohingya population in the Cox's Bazar camps had to be cut from $12 to $10, then in June, to $8 per person, per month.
"Already, four in 10 families were not consuming enough food and 12% of children were acutely malnourished. This was before the ration cut," reads the statement.
Dom Scalpelli, WFP resident representative and country director, said, "At a time when we have been forced to cut food rations for the Rohingya families, this contribution from Japan could not have been more timely.
"We hope more donors will step up and keep the plight of the Rohingya high on their aid agenda. We are appealing for $48 million to restore the full ration. Anything less than $12 has dire consequences not only on nutrition for women and children, but also protection, safety and security for everyone in the camps."
