Spanish aid for Namibian children

THE United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), battling a funding shortfall, announced yesterday that it had received N$2,79 million from Spain to feed more than 90 000 orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia’s six northern regions “for a couple of months”.

In a joint statement, WFP, the Namibian Government and Spain announced that the 300 000 euros came “at a critical time” when the project faced a severe shortfall. “This very generous contribution from the Spanish government will help secure our food supplies to the children for the next couple of months,” said John Prout, WFP representative to Namibia.”The Spanish contribution will be used to procure maize in Namibia which will also benefit the local economy.”The food aid agency needs a total of US$9 million until the end of 2007.Besides maize meal, the normal monthly take-home ration for each child registered with the programme includes a corn-soya blend, cooking oil and pulses.As new problems emerge in different parts of Africa, and the rest of the world, donor focus has shifted away from southern Africa and all their programmes across the region have been affected by the reduced availability of resources.WFP has been working with the Government of Namibia for the last 20 months to establish programmes to feed children in the six northern regions.”This very generous contribution from the Spanish government will help secure our food supplies to the children for the next couple of months,” said John Prout, WFP representative to Namibia.”The Spanish contribution will be used to procure maize in Namibia which will also benefit the local economy.”The food aid agency needs a total of US$9 million until the end of 2007.Besides maize meal, the normal monthly take-home ration for each child registered with the programme includes a corn-soya blend, cooking oil and pulses.As new problems emerge in different parts of Africa, and the rest of the world, donor focus has shifted away from southern Africa and all their programmes across the region have been affected by the reduced availability of resources.WFP has been working with the Government of Namibia for the last 20 months to establish programmes to feed children in the six northern regions.