UN welcomes $1 million from Kuwait to help feed Iraq

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a $1 million donation by Kuwait to its emergency operations in Iraq, the first by a Persian Gulf country.

"We are particularly encouraged by this contribution," the WFP Regional Director for the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Central Asia, Khaled Adly, said in Kuwait. "It comes at a time when WFP is re-establishing the food distribution system for the entire Iraqi population."

The funds provided by the Kuwaiti Government will be used to purchase lentils, a very important source of protein, WFP said.

WFP's efforts to get aid into Iraq are picking up, with more than 92,000 tons of food shipped there since the beginning of April. Although the agency has not received any reports so far of extreme food shortages in Iraq, WFP said it expects that the most vulnerable Iraqis will run out of food in May.