ISLAMABAD: King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) and the UN World Food Program (WFP) have signed an agreement to provide nutritional assistance to vulnerable groups in Pakistan, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Tuesday.
KSrelief supervisor general Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah and WFP executive director David Beasley signed the cooperation agreement on the sidelines of a WFP executive board session in Rome.
The efforts will focus on 14 areas in the country’s northern regions, reaching over 66,000 people.
“The agreement includes life-saving nutritional support in cases of emergency for children diagnosed with acute malnutrition, and pregnant and nursing women in endangered regions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Region and Azad Jammu Kashmir Region in Pakistan,” the SPA reported.
The assistance seeks to “increase opportunities to receive treatment foods to guarantee comprehensive nutritional services that can save the lives of children under five years old, pregnant and nursing women in 14 priority regions in Pakistan, enhance the capability of checking up and treating malnutrition in health care facilities and at the local community level.”
It will also focus on increasing access to information related to nutrition and public health.
The Saudi-based international agency provides humanitarian and development support to millions of beneficiaries in more than 49 countries. Pakistan is the fifth-largest recipient of assistance and received more than $120 million in aid since 2005.