Japan gives another $5 million to WFP for Afghanistan

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday Japan has contributed an additional $5 million towards the Afghanistan crisis.

WFP says this funding comes at a critical time after the aid agency was forced to cut assistance to at least four million people last month due to a lack of funds.

The organization said at the time, that unless funding was received for April, nine million Afghans could go without food.

Japan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Takashi Okada meanwhile said: “The Government of Japan has been a consistent and strong supporter of the Afghan people and of WFP over the past years. Japan sees food assistance as one of the primary ways to reach sustainable development and human security.”

“We are grateful to the Government of Japan for this latest contribution. WFP’s food assistance is today the last lifeline for millions of Afghans in a country that is at the highest risk of famine in a quarter of a century,” said Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP Country Director in Afghanistan.

“Catastrophic hunger knocks on Afghanistan’s doors and unless humanitarian support is sustained, hundreds of thousands more Afghans will need assistance to survive.”

WFP said currently, nearly 20 million Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from. Six million of them are one step away from famine. WFP urgently needs US$93 million to assist 13 million people in April and US$800 million for the next six months.

This new funding brings Japan’s total contribution towards WFP’s humanitarian response in Afghanistan to $96.57 million over the past five years. Early this year, Tokyo contributed $12.4 million to WFP in Afghanistan.