The United States has made a further contribution of $6 million for aid of the government of Pakistan in fulfilling the food and nutritional needs of the internally displaced people (IDPs) from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on August 20. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace (FFP), is associated with the ongoing partnership between the Government of Pakistan, U.S. government and the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) under the Twinning Program. “Twinning” is an innovative program that accompaniments the Government of Pakistan’s contribution of locally grown wheat by paying for milling, fortification, transport and distribution costs. The fortification process delivers additional vitamins and minerals to fulfill the dietary needs of vulnerable populations. This food has been utilized by WFP to support 1.4 million internally displaced people, counting those from the North Waziristan Agency.
Through this support, USAID has now become the biggest international donor to the program, contributing a total of $39 million, sufficient to transform over 60 percent of the 214,000 metric tons of wheat donated by the Government of Pakistan since 2013.
The United States bears a time-honored history and obligation of working together with Pakistan to give humanitarian help and support for human and social development. In 2014, USAID contributed over $60 million in food assistance to Pakistan, besides the Twinning Program. Since 2009, the United States has provided over $1.4 billion in humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, becoming the biggest bilateral provider of humanitarian assistance.
You can view a video documentary about the Twinning Program here: http://vimeo.com/94153059.
