(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)
Tue 30 Nov 2021, 6:16 PM
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) has signed two partnership agreements with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide food support worth Dh 9.5 million to refugees and asylum seekers in Nigeria and India.
Under the agreement, MBRGI will provide Dh7.1 million in direct cash assistance to support 42,800 refugees in Nigeria and UNHCR food parcels worth a total of Dh2.4 million to assist 30,000 refugees in India.
The food parcels will include all the ingredients required for preparing healthy, balanced and nutritious meals, said a press statement from MBRGI.
MBRGI, which organised the 100 Million Meals campaign that fed the needy in 30 countries across four continents last Ramadan partnered with UNHCR, as well as members of the host communities.
The bilateral partnership agreement was signed by Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR's regional representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and senior adviser for Islamic Philanthropy, and Saeed Al Eter, assistant secretary-general at MBRGI.
Expanding the scope of humanitarian action Sara Al Nuaimi, the director of MBRGI, said cooperation with UNHCR ensures direct and rapid access to food to those most in need – including the most destitute communities, individuals and families in dire material and social conditions in Nigeria and India.
She explained,“MBRGI is the largest organisation of its kind locally and regionally in terms of the number of institutional initiatives under its umbrella, as well as in terms of its geographical scope. However, we are always keen to expand our strategic partnerships with international humanitarian organizations.”
Meanwhile, Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR's regional representative to the GCC Countries said,“This generous contribution by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives will have a profound impact on the lives of thousands of refugee families and the most vulnerable people in Nigeria and India.”
He said,“As a result of the pandemic, these communities are facing difficult challenges in securing their daily livelihood, especially with regard to food security and basic needs.”
'One out of every 95 people in the world now classed as displaced'
According to the June 2021 update of the UNHCR's Global Trends Report for 2020, the number of refugees, displaced and forcibly displaced people reached 82.4 million people around the world by the end of 2020 as a result of persecution or wars and conflicts.
Of this total, 26.4 million are refugees, about half of whom are under the age of 18. Developing countries host 86 per cent of the world's refugees and 73 per cent of the world's refugees live in countries neighbouring their own.
This is the highest number recorded in the history of the UNHCR and equates to one out of every 95 people in the world now classed as displaced.
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