United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has commenced cash disbursements in the scale-up of the Urban Social Assistance programme.
Development Diaries gathered that financial assistance from USAID allows WFP to provide support to over 103,700 people struggling to meet their daily food needs due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
USAID and WFP will reach the most vulnerable and food-insecure families, particularly women, people who are unemployed, and people suffering from chronic illness or disability.
The support is intended to reach citizens in Gokwe, Redcliff, Kwekwe, Ruwa, Chinhoyi, Buhera, Chipinge, and Chegutu.
‘We have provided to support the cash transfers for over 103,700 vulnerable Zimbabweans in eight urban areas, we are providing over US$60 million to support food distributions for nearly one million people in rural areas during the current lean season’, USAID Director, Art Brown, said.
As for the Country Director for WFP Zimbabwe, Francesca Erdelmann, she said, ‘Today we have expanded our urban social assistance programme to ease the challenges faced by urban communities, which have been worsened by Covid-19.
‘We are grateful to USAID for its support in such a time as this’.
It was gathered that WFP’s Urban Social Assistance programme reached 326,004 people in 22 vulnerable urban settlements in September.
Source: 263 Chat
Photo source: USAID in Africa
