WFP, Tkiyet Um Ali to provide food aid for 100,000 Jordanians

AMMAN — The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Tkiyet Um Ali (TUA) signed an agreement Tuesday to provide direct food assistance to 100,000 food-insecure Jordanians living in rural areas across the country.

For a period of two months, WFP will contribute four out of the 22 food items that TUA provides to Jordanian recipients on a monthly basis, according to a joint statement from WFP and TUA.

TUA will continue the food aid programme after the conclusion of the WFP partnership, the statement said.

“This activity is part of WFP’s wider objective to help vulnerable Jordanians throughout the Kingdom affected by the extended economic crisis through cash and food assistance," the statement quoted WFP Country Director for Jordan Mageed Yahia as saying.

"WFP’s objective is to enhance the food security status of its beneficiaries by addressing short-term food needs through direct food assistance,” he added.

TUA Director General Samer Balkar said the partnership will enable the tkiyet to deliver the contribution of donor agencies to individuals "who have been endorsed based on set criteria and standards implemented on an international level and our own comprehensive database of households living in extreme poverty”. 

“This partnership will ease the financial burden of TUA’s sustainable food aid programme, which can reach $1.5 million on a monthly basis,” Balkar said, adding that the targeted group comprises those socially or physically unable to work or be rehabilitated.

The WFP-TUA partnership forms part of a long-term $41 million agreement between WFP and the government to assist Jordanians affected by economic difficulties in the country and the influx of Syrian refugees.