Kigali: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received €1 million (US$1.1 million) from the European Commission to provide food and nutritional assistance to more than 60,000 Burundian refugees in Mahama camp in eastern Rwanda.
This is in addition to €500,000 also received from the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid office (ECHO) in early 2019 in order to keep saving the refugees’ lives and supporting them in the camp and at reception centres.
“WFP is very grateful to European taxpayers for their support to save and change refugees’ lives in Mahama camp through food and nutritional assistance,” said WFP Rwanda Representative and Country Director, Edith Heines.
“This contribution came at a critical time, helping WFP to avert ration cuts this month and reinstate cash transfers to protect refugees’ freedom to buy what they want to eat,” she added.
Women and children comprise 75 percent of the entire refugee population in the camp. WFP uses a hybrid model of cash and in-kind food assistance to support refugees.
The refugees have extremely limited access to livelihoods. WFP with partners including the government and UN agencies are exploring opportunities to enhance refugee self-reliance by increasing access to livelihoods and links with local communities surrounding the camp.
Mahama is the sixth and largest refugee camp in Rwanda and was established in April 2015.
The United Nations World Food Programme – saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.
The European Union and its Member States are the world’s leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. (End)