* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
BISHKEK – The Government of the Russian Federation has announced its renewed commitment to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), contributing US$3 million to support the most food-insecure families in the Kyrgyz Republic through community projects.
The grant will fund WFP's food-for-assets projects that assist rural communities to revitalise infrastructure, improve agricultural production, diversify rural incomes and mitigate the impact of natural disasters.
"This new contribution is part of Russia's long-standing support for the most vulnerable people in the Kyrgyz Republic," said WFP Kyrgyzstan Country Director Ram Saravanamuttu. "The funding will help WFP strengthen social safety nets and build the longer-term resilience of vulnerable rural communities by improving families' food security and nutrition, increasing production and raising their incomes."
Over the next six months, WFP will use this grant to support projects aimed at rehabilitating of irrigation networks and cropland and boosting agricultural production, forest expansion and the construction of bridges and drainage systems. These will protect the environment and strengthen the communities' capacity to mitigate disaster in areas including Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Talas, Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken provinces.
Since WFP launched a food-for-assets programme in Kyrgyzstan in 2010, 295,000 people across the country have benefited from projects that have helped increase rural development, while providing the foundations for lasting food security and economic growth.
The Government of the Russian Federation has supported vulnerable communities in developing countries over the past decade. As WFP's principal donor in the Kyrgyz Republic since food assistance activities were launched in late 2008, Russia has contributed a total of US$31 million, enabling critical humanitarian interventions and support to hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyzstan's poorest people.
# # #
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. On average, WFP reaches more than 90 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year.
Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media
For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org): Elizabeth Zalkind, WFP/Bishkek, Tel: +993 312 660033, Mob. +996 555 940 420
