The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed the first-ever donation from the Russian Federation to support WFP’s operation in Azerbaijan to provide food assistance to the poorest among the internally displaced people (IDPs).

“This Russian US$2 million donation to Azerbaijan will enable us to continue food assistance to the most vulnerable among those displaced by the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Lynne Miller, WFP’s Country Director in Azerbaijan.

“We are very grateful for Russia’s commitment to our efforts to help those in need.”

Displaced

The Russian donation will help procure wheat flour and vegetable oil for the displaced over the coming four months.

Since 2003, when the Russian Federation joined WFP’s growing list of generous donors, it has provided US$44 million worth of assistance to WFP efforts around the world.

WFP started operations in Azerbaijan in 1994 to help over half a million people displaced by the conflict. Gradually a large number of them moved to urban areas and became self-reliant. WFP has since shifted its attentions to assisting those who remained in rural areas and are still unable to meet their basic needs.

Conflict

The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh led to the displacement of some 800,000 Azerbaijanis in the 1990s. WFP’s current two-year operation in Azerbaijan assists 154,000 of them.

“The displaced people we are assisting are still unable to afford their basic needs. They still rely on continued humanitarian support,” said Miller.

WFP’s current operation, which extends until mid 2008, has a total cost of US$15.9 million and is currently facing a 38 per cent shortfall in funding.

Donors to the current WFP’s operation in Azerbaijan include: Azerbaijan (US$ 3 million); the Russian Federation (US$2 million); Japan (US$100,000); and private donors (US$69,000) as well as multilateral donation (US$ 4 million).

So far this year, Russia has contributed US$11 million to WFP, for operations in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba and Tajikistan.

Lynne Miller
WFP/Baku
Tel. +99412-4938096
Mob. +99450-2019992

Khaled Mansour
WFP/Cairo
Tel. +20-2-5281730
Cell. +20-122348671