Sept. 4 – From Rome to Khartoum in the name of solidarity. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed today a donation of $950,000 from the Italian government. The contribution will be used to increase WFP assistance to more than 20,000 vulnerable people in the eastern states of Red Sea and Kassala, in Sudan. “We are very grateful to the Italian government for its firm commitment to the work the WFP carries out in Eastern Sudan. Thanks to its donations, we have helped promote education for young people, improve literacy rates among vulnerable groups, especially women, and increase the ability of communities to cope with the difficulties associated with the dry season,” said WFP Sudan Director, Adnan Khan. “Our partnership with the WFP in Eastern Sudan is not recent,” said the Italian ambassador to Sudan, Armando Barucco, during his recent visit to the WFP project in Hamashkorieb, about 250 kilometers north of the state of Kassala. “We have developed a special partnership especially concerning ‘food-for-training’ and ‘Food for Education’ projects. We see the positive impact that these activities have on the population in Hamashkorieb, and we are committed to continue our work in the area. In particular, the Italian government believes that education of girls is a crucial element to long-term development. Our experience has shown that women’s education plays a key role in building peace, stability and development.”
