Islamabad, February 27, 2009 - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations World Food Program announced the signing of an agreement valued at $22.4 million to help ease Pakistan's food crisis. USAID/Pakistan Deputy Mission Director Joseph Williams speaking at the signing ceremony said that "this Food Security Relief Program will benefit thousands of Pakistanis who are affected by the rising price of basic food items. I am particularly pleased that many of those who will benefit from this food aid are Pakistani school children."

The United States will grant $22.4 to the World Food Program (WFP) to provide approximately 33,731 metric tons (MT) of wheat and 4,825 metric tons (MT) of edible oil to over 2,710,000 Pakistanis, including 405,000 primary school students. WFP will distribute this food aid in 20 districts in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Baluchistan, and arid zones of Sindh.

Flanked by Pakistan's Additional Secretary of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Tauqir Ahmad Faiq, WFP Representative in Pakistan Wolfgang Herbinger said: "This grant comes at a very critical time and will help WFP continue its assistance to more than three million needy people hit hard by the surge in food prices. We appreciate the role of USAID as a development partner in addressing the hardships faced by poor Pakistanis," he added.

WFP, UNESCO, the federal government, provincial education departments and schools will work together to organize special Parent-Teachers-Students Days ("School Days") on which food staples, including wheat rations of 50 kg per bag, will be distributed to families four times between now and April of 2010. These "take home" rations will serve as an incentive to encourage families to keep children in school and out of work.

Under the WFP School Food Program, families that keep their children enrolled in school will receive four liters of edible oil. In addition, WFP and UNESCO will add wheat distribution to this program. On "School Days" parents will go to the selected schools, receive training in basic health practices and the effective use of the food rations, and be encouraged to keep their children enrolled in school.