The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed the announcement of a US$72.3 million contribution from the Government of Japan. The generous infusion of funding will enable WFP to provide vital food and nutrition assistance in 23 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

“WFP deeply appreciates this substantial injection of support from Japan which comes at a critical time when the organization is simultaneously responding to an unprecedented level of need for food assistance in countries such as Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan,” said Naoe Yakiya, Director of the WFP Japan Office.

“Today, we are living in a world where 815 million people are hungry primarily due to conflicts. We are most grateful for Japan’s leadership in promoting the humanitarian-development-peace nexus through sustainable solutions that address urgent hunger needs and their underlying causes.”

More than half of the funding provided by Japan, or US$40.5 million, will support WFP operations for the most vulnerable people affected by conflict and displacement in seven countries in the Middle East. This is in line with the pledge made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the UN Refugee Summit in September 2016 to provide US$2.8 billion in humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants, and support to host countries and communities from 2016 to 2018.

Japan’s allocations to WFP operations are broken down as follows: