CAIRO - The Italian Government, represented by the Ambassador of Italy to Egypt, H.E. Claudio Pacifico, and the United Nations World Food Programme, represented by WFP Country Director, Gianpietro Bordignon, signed an agreement today, in the presence of the Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, H.E. Gouda Abdel-Khalek, to procure €2 million (around US$2.6 million) worth of food for the Egyptian food safety net system.
With financial support from the Italian Development Cooperation, WFP will purchase on the international market some 1,100 metric tons of sugar and, on the local market, some 1,000 metric tons of fortified vegetable oil to be handed over to the Egyptian Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade for distribution to an estimated 600,000 beneficiaries in Beni Suef, one of the most food insecure governorates in Egypt.
'This intervention bears witness not only to the long-lasting partnership between the Italian Government and WFP, but also represents a telling expression of the special and deep relations binding Italy and Egypt. Italy remains beside Egypt in the transition, supporting its efforts towards a socio-economic sustainable development, as well as responding to its most urgent needs, also thanks to the constant and qualified presence of the Italian Cooperation in the Country." said H.E. Claudio Pacifico, Italy's ambassador to Egypt. "This programme will help improve the livelihood conditions of the most disadvantaged segments of the Egyptian population, namely in Beni Suef Governorate, which has been badly affected by the current economic and social situation."
The food subsidy system represented a lifeline for some 64 million Egyptians who receive basic food commodities through ration cards.
Gianpietro Bordignon, WFP Representative to Egypt, said "This bilateral service operation provided by the UN WFP, is yet another important step forward in the long-standing collaboration between the Italian government and WFP globally. In Egypt, the WFP's assisted school feeding programme is mainly resourced through the innovative debt-swap mechanism set up by the Egyptian and Italian Governments, which first phase was completed end 2006. The second and current phase in Beni Suef, Menya and Fayoum governorates, which will bring the total value of the debt swap funding to over USD 15 million, aims to enabling access to basic education and improving the health of more than 185,000 of the poorest children and 98,500 of their family members through supporting their household's food security."
A WFP report released last year based on 2009 government data, showed that governorates in Upper Egypt, including Beni Suef and Fayoum, are at great risk from food insecurity linked to their precarious economic situation.
Egypt is the largest wheat importer in the world, importing well over 50 percent of its domestic consumption. Most of the wheat goes to the provision of subsidised 'baladi' bread, the staple food for the majority of Egyptians of whom 40 percent live on less than US$2 a day.
The Ministry of Supply and WFP are currently formulating an innovative model bakery project to be set up in Qalioubia aimed at enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the baladi bread baking industry. The "Model Bakery" project will be funded again by the innovative Italian-Egyptian Debt for Development Swap.
WFP's assistance currently benefits over 685,000 people in Egypt through its programmes aimed at enhancing food and nutritional security by fighting short term hunger and eliminating child labour through education, promoting better nutrition through fortification of staple foods nationwide and supporting vulnerable groups through asset creation, among others.
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The Embassy of Italy in Cairo is available online at: http://www.ambilcairo.esteri.it/Ambasciata_Ilcairo
For more information on the Italian Development Cooperation's activities in Egypt, consult the website www.utlcairo.org
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries.
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For more information please contact:
Gianpietro Bordignon, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +202 2528 1730, ext. 4100 Mob. +201272661416
Abdallah Alwardat, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +202 2528 1730, ext. 4130 Mob. +201284766229
Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +202 2528 1730, ext. 2600 Mob. +201 0666 34352
© Press Release 2012
