Dhaka – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is providing dates to thousands of school children in Bangladesh through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). A gift from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KS Relief), the dates will be distributed by WFP through its school feeding programme to 275,000 children and their families in some of the poorest areas of Bangladesh.A total of 550 metric tonnes of dates will be distributed as take-home rations in the disaster-prone districts of Gaibandha and Cox’s Bazar, in time for the holy month of Ramadan, when dates are traditionally eaten to break the day-long fast.
“We were pleased to be part of the distribution of dates to school children in Cox’s Bazar District yesterday. It is rewarding to see that when we provide humanitarian assistance to those who need it most, regardless of where they are, we can really make a difference.” said Mr. Abdullah Saad Al Twaigri, Representative of the King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief, during the official handover ceremony at the Directorate of Primary Education in Dhaka today.
WFP Representative Ms Christa Räder extended WFP’s gratitude for Saudi Arabia’s support to Bangladesh: “The dates are highly appreciated as a special treat for the students and their families, and we are hoping to explore further opportunities to work together with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to achieve zero hunger in Bangladesh.”
WFP provides technical support to the Government of Bangladesh as it scales up its school feeding programme, which now covers more than 2.4 million pre-primary and primary school children nationally. In parallel, WFP’s own programme focuses on other extremely poor rural and urban areas to provide more than 470,987 pre- and primary schoolchildren with a packet of nutritious biscuits each day they attend school.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a longstanding partner to WFP, having contributed to relief operations in the aftermath of disasters. This year, in response to funding appeals to support people suffering from malnutrition and hunger across the world, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has donated more than 4,000 metric tonnes of dates to WFP globally.
(The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) was established in May 2015 to be the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian arm dedicated to coordinating and providing international relief to crisis-afflicted communities.)
