Press Release

EUROPEAN COMISSION AND WFP MARK THREE YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP IN IRAQ

31 March 2018

BAGHDAD – As Iraq emerges from three years of conflict and families begin reuniting and rebuilding their livelihoods, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the European Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO) mark four years of successful partnership.

Since 2014, the EU has provided more than US$46 million in humanitarian funding so that WFP could provide life-saving assistance during emergencies, while also establishing longer-term infrastructure for cash-based transfers.

“With thanks to the EU’s commitment, WFP provided life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Iraqis as they fled conflict and to thousands of Syrian refugees who sought safety in Iraq,” said WFP Representative Sally Haydock. “EU humanitarian support also allowed us to establish systems that underscore the resilience and recovery operations we are currently implementing in some of the hardest hit parts of the country.”

In 2015, thanks to EU support, WFP launched SCOPE, a food assistance management system that empowers WFP with the ability to provide cash-based assistance to vulnerable people, enabling them to buy nutritious foods of their choice from local shops.

EU-funded activities have also provided ready-to-eat food, monthly food rations and cash-based assistance to vulnerable families across Iraq during the Mosul crisis.

WFP looks forward to extending this partnership as it directs its programmes toward resilience and recovery to help the Government and people of Iraq rebuild their country.

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Dina El-Kassaby, WFP/Cairo, Mob. +201015218882

Cristina Graziani, WFP/Baghdad, Tel. +964 780 915 0950

Saif al-Tatooz, WFP/Baghdad, Tel. +964 780 915 6198