The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday welcomed an agreement by the Government of The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg committing €5.7 million in cash each year to WFP from 2007 until 2010.”This kind of flexible and generous giving by Luxembourg sets an important example,” said Josette Sheeran, WFP Executive Director, adding that this guaranteed income will allow WFP to plan life-saving assistance more efficiently and effectively, and to use cash where and when it is most needed.

“Luxembourg is the world’s top per capita supporter to help WFP save lives on the front lines of hunger. We are most grateful,” said Sheeran.

The Luxembourg Ambassador, H.E. Jean-Louis Wolzfeld, yesterday presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – signed by Jean-Louis Schiltz, Luxembourg Minister of Cooperation – defining the modalities of cooperation between Luxembourg and WFP until 2010.

WFP encourages donors to make multi-year flexible commitments – as a part of its Funding for Effectiveness policy. Luxembourg’s MOU, together with similar commitments from six other donor countries, will reinforce its role as a pioneer in flexible-funding.

“Luxembourg has a special interest in forgotten emergencies. Through this funding, which includes five percent for disaster preparedness, we aim to ensure that the silent voices of the vulnerable will be heard,” said Wolzfeld.

Luxembourg’s donation builds on its role as an important contributor to WFP’s activities. Although Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in the developed world, it has the highest per capita level of donation to WFP, donating €32 per person in 2006..

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency: on average, each year, we give food to 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in 80 of the world’s poorest countries. WFP – We Feed People.  

WFP now provides RSS feeds to help journalists keep up with the latest press releases, videos and photos as they are published on WFP.org. For more details see: http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=999.  

WFP now has a dedicated ISDN line in Italy for quality two-way interviews with WFP officials.

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Brenda Barton, Deputy Director Communications, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39-06-65132602, Cell. +39-3472582217 (ISDN line available)

Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel.. +44-20-72409001, Cell. +44-7968-008474

Christiane Berthiaume, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41-22-9178564, Cell. +41-792857304

Jennifer Parmelee, WFP/Washington, Tel. +1-202-6530010 ext. 1149, Cell. +1-202-4223383

Bettina Luescher, WFP/New York, Tel. +1-212-9635196, Cell. +1-646-8241112, luescher@un.org