H.E. State Minister met with Head of WFP in Afghanistan
H.E. Ghulam Bahaudin Jailani, State Minister for Disaster Management met with Ms. Mary Ellen head of WFP in Afghanistan.
H.E. the minister expressed his appreciation for the humanitarian assistance provided by the World Food Program to the most vulnerable people across the country especially in the northern provinces of Badakhshan, Pamir mountain range, Wakhan, Faryab and Konduz.
H.E. the minister further thanked Ms Mary Ellen for her sound leadership and Hayatullah Rasooli for his effective management in the northern zone.
H.E. the minister also pointed to the effectiveness of Distarkhan-e-Milli initiative which has benefited people in need in the most remote areas.
Furthermore H.E. the minister emphasized on the need for developing a unified methodology for assessing disaster affected populations and providing assistance to the conflict and disaster induced IDPs across the country.
On other hand, Ms. Mary Ellen thanked H.E. the minister for the encouragement and support provided to WFP and added : since the weather forecasts show low precipitation for the current year compare to the previous year, it has increased the possibility of facing drought and since the country is already affected by Covid-19 pandemic beside conflict and natural disasters; Humanitarian Aid Agencies and government line ministries need to work very closely to advocate for more fund, creating coherence between distarkhan-e-Milli and aid agencies response programs to maximize the use of available resources.
At end excellency Bahaudin Jailani stressed the need for increased cooperation and coordination between ANDMA and WFP at the national and local level and promised his full support in case of any challenges faced.