The State of Qatar will allocate $20 million to buy agricultural products for African countries in the framework of the Grain from Ukraine initiative, announced by President Vladimir Zelensky at the G20 Summit last week, to help feed people around the world.
Sheikh Mohamed Al Thani, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the State of Qatar, said this during a speech at the international summit on food security on Saturday.
“Qatar welcomes special programs and projects that promote food security and increase the sustainability of countries. We welcome the Grain from Ukraine initiative as it aims to help African countries get Ukrainian food exports. Qatar will allocate $20 million to support this initiative”, – emphasized the representative of Qatar.
He also reminded that the Qatar Foundation for Development will provide $12 million to the Horn of Africa to ensure food safety, and has already provided the UN World Food Program (WFP) with $90 million to feed famished people in Yemen.
In addition, Qatar has already allocated $5 million to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health for the purchase of ambulances and other medical equipment.
“Qatar remains a reliable international partner, and we support collective initiatives, international activities aimed at ensuring our country works effectively together with international partners to confront challenges that threaten specific communities and also pose a collective threat to humanity,” Sheikh concluded.
As reported, the humanitarian program Grain from Ukraine, announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a speech before the G-20, which will be implemented in partnership with the UN WFP, provides grain for at least 5 million people until the end of spring 2023.
Ukraine has decided to send part of its grain reserves under the program to those African countries where there are already problems of hunger. Part of the grain ready for export can be bought by the project participants, thus the international partners can simultaneously support the Ukrainian economy in a difficult situation and help poor countries in Africa.
The U.S. has already earmarked $20 million for the project implementation, while Germany and Japan are to contribute EUR 15 million, Belgium EUR 10 million, France EUR 6 million and Canada USD 30 million (about $22.4 million).
