Last March, flash floods swept through large areas, affecting 25 out of Iran’s 31 provinces, with Khuzestan and Lorestan provinces being the worst affected. In April, using $600,000 of its own emergency funds, WFP assisted nearly 60,000 people (12,000 families) in 85 villages in Khuzestan province.
WFP has received contributions of US$75,000 from The State of Kuwait and US$65,000 from the Republic of Poland which will be used to provide one-month rations of essential foods to those families worst-affected by the floods.
“These generous funds from Poland and Kuwait will allow us extend our support to Lorestan as well,” said WFP’s Representative and Country Director in the Islamic Republic of Iran Negar Gerami. “Although the water has subsided, there are still many families in desperate need of food assistance there.”
The emergency food parcels contain rice, canned pinto beans, canned tuna fish, green lentils, beans, vegetable oil, sugar, tea, and iodised salt. All these commodities were purchased from suppliers in Iran.
“The State of Kuwait is fulfilling its humanitarian duty by sending relief assistance to those affected by floods in Iran,” said Kuwait’s Chargé d'Affaires in Tehran Falah AlHajraf. “My country’s contribution to the World Food Programme will help provide essential support to those families affected by floods.
“The people and the government of Poland have been concerned about the loss of life and the damage caused by the flood in Iran,” said Poland’s Ambassador to Iran Maciej Fałkowski. “These funds are a token of the sincere friendship and sympathy of Polish people for flood-stricken Iranians. We wish that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon overcome the difficulties caused by the flood.”
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian Red Crescent Society have been providing food assistance including ready-to-eat meals and family food packages to affected people across the country since the beginning of the crisis.
