Launching new project for Azerbaijan, UN food aid agency appeals for funding

"This is likely to be the last phase of WFP's operation in Azerbaijan. In order to ensure a smooth handover to the Government towards the end of the project, the continued financial support from donors is crucial," Amir Abdulla, WFP's Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, said.

He added that the new two-year operation will provide 26,833 metric tons of food assistance valued at $15.7 million to the most vulnerable of the displaced population, particularly women and children.

Since leaving Nagorno Karabakh 13 years ago, many of the one million displaced Azerbaijanis still live in inadequate conditions and nearly 300,000 of them will continue to rely on food aid for the foreseeable future, according to a WFP Food Security and Nutrition Assessment released last year.

In designing the new operation, WFP incorporated the findings from the survey and took into consideration the ongoing activities of the government to assist the displaced population by reinforcing its current assistance and benefit programmes.

The operation is aligned with the State Programme for Poverty Reduction and Economic Development and with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) developed at the 2000 UN summit to reduce a wide range of socio-economic ills by 2015.

A Food for Education component of the operation will address declining enrolment rates of primary school children and help stabilize attendance by providing school meals, and a Food for Work project will increase employment opportunities for rural households, many of whom are displaced people.

WFP has provided over $100 million in food assistance to Azerbaijan in the past twelve years to ease the hardships of the displaced population.

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