The ceremony was brief, solemn but rich in content. Some 96 tonnes of date fruits were donated to assist pregnant, breastfeeding women and malnourished children in the North and Far North Regions of Cameroon. The first few minutes of the ceremony at the embassy in Yaounde yesterday October 13, were dedicated to the signing of documents to attest to the reception of the gifts, few others to the symbolic handing over of a packet of date fruits and later to a declaration. The gesture from the Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia to the people of Cameroon through the World Food Programme, WFP, is aimed at contributing to the living conditions of beneficiaries and the fight against food insecurity.
The Resident Representative of WFP, Cameroon, Jacques Roy, could not hide his gratitude and said “The date fruits are coming at a time vulnerable people in the North and Far North Regions are in dire need of fortifiers.” As target population this time, Jacques Roy announced that the distribution will take place within the next two to three weeks in health centres in the regions concerned. He explained that the project has 96,000 beneficiaries. The distribution, Roy said, has always been done in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and other charities.
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Cameroon, Mahmoud Bin Hussein Quattan, noted with satisfaction relations between his country and WFP, saying they have been beneficial in reaching out to the destitute in society. He therefore expressed confidence in the effective distribution of the date fruits to the target population of the North and Far North Regions.
WFP recently distributed date fruits to 4,600 pregnant and breastfeeding women, 320 malnourished children, 12,100 people living with HIV/AIDS and 1,865 refugees from Sudan in the north west of the Central African Republic. A similar gesture to the population of the Northern Regions of the country has therefore been welcomed by stakeholders.
