Timely donor contributions save lives in Mauritania in 2018
NOUAKCHOTT – Concerted action made feasible by generous contributions from donor partners has helped save the lives of tens of thousands of impoverished and food insecure people who were affected by the worst drought to hit Mauritania in four years, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today.
Irregular and scattered rainfalls in 2017 led to dry pastures, reduced agricultural production, and low-surface water availability in 2018, affecting communities in central, southern and eastern regions of the West African country.
With contributions from governments, the private sector and individuals amounting to US$ 18.4 million, WFP provided lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to more than 331,000 vulnerable people through its emergency response operation in Mauritania.
“We had to act swiftly to support the government to prevent a humanitarian disaster and we were successful thanks to the support we received from partners,” said Jean-Noel Gentile, WFP Representative and Country Director in Mauritania. “These contributions reiterate the support and solidarity of donors towards Mauritania and we hope to see that continue as we focus on building resilience among communities.”
Canada, the European Union’s Humanitarian and Civil Department (ECHO), France, Germany, Monaco, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Kingdom, United Nations Central Emergency Response Funds (UN CERF) were the main partners supporting WFP’s interventions during the lean season. Multilateral and flexible allocations enabled WFP to kick-start its lean season response in Mauritania April 2018.
Intense collaboration between the Mauritanian government, food security and nutrition partners and various UN agencies facilitated the implementation of a coordinated response to address lifesaving needs of most vulnerable Mauritanian population, to strengthen livelihoods and to protect early development gains
WFP’s assistance through food distributions, cash transfers and support to prevent and treat acute malnutrition at the peak of the lean season was provided as a key part of resilience building package, to protect access to food, safeguard productive assets livelihoods, prevent malnutrition and protect early gains, as part of a longer-term resilience approach.
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