WFP Launches First Food Voucher Operation In Middle East

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched
a
food voucher operation, the first of its kind in the Middle East, to
assist
some 30,000 people in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt).



The 12-month voucher operation began yesterday in urban areas of the
West
Bank, where the price of basic food commodities such as wheat flour,
sugar,
rice, oil, pulses and milk increased by almost 70 percent in 2008.
Families
will receive eight vouchers per month, with a monthly value of
NIS200
(US$50).




"The recent fall in global food prices has not yet translated into
lower
prices in local markets; Palestinian families are now spending about
60
percent of their income on food," said Christine van Nieuwenhuyse,
WFP
Country Director in the oPt. She added that the project would
improve
people's access to food, while at the same time providing a
financial
stimulus to the local economy.




Voucher and cash transfer programmes allow WFP to address hunger when
food
is available but people are unable to afford it.




The UN agency is also planning to start a food voucher operation in
Gaza
for about 15,000 people. This will enable them to access food directly
from
small- and medium-sized traders in Gaza and help restore the food
chain
that has been affected with the recent conflict there.



The US$6.7 million voucher project was conceived and developed
in
collaboration with the Palestinian Authority. Voucher distribution
took
place yesterday in Qualqilya and will continue in Hebron, Nablus,
and
Tulkarem, with Action Contre la Faim (ACF) and Catholic Relief
Services
(CRS) as WFP's cooperating partners.



Beneficiaries will be able to use the vouchers in selected shops, to
buy
bread, eggs, milk, yoghurt and two types of white cheese.

A study carried out by WFP in July 2008 found that people in the oPt
are
highly vulnerable to the impact of global food prices on domestic
markets
because of their dependence on imports.



Donor countries contributing so far to the operation are Saudi
Arabia
(US$2.5 million) and France (US$2 million).



WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency and the UN's frontline
agency for hunger solutions. In 2009, WFP aims to feed around 100 million
people in 77 countries.

Source
United Nations World Food Programme