(MONROVIA) April 4, 2012 - The U.S. Government through the USAID Office of Food for Peace has allocated up to twenty-five (25) million U.S. Dollars in new resources to the UN World Food Program (WFP) Emergency Operations for Ivoirians and Liberians affected by the refugee crisis. The $25 million includes new in-kind commodities contribution of $9 million for Liberia and $16 million for Côte d’Ivoire.

The additional support announcement is part of worldwide food aid allocations made in March to Afghanistan, Algeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia.

The commodities that Liberia will be receiving through the USAID Food for Peace donation include over 6,200 metric tons of rice, yellow peas, vegetable oil, and corn-soya blend. In-kind donations refer to donations of goods and commodities instead of money.

Since December 2010 the Office of Food for Peace has actively assisted the Government of Liberia and the UN in responding to the Ivorian refugee crisis. To date, over $50 million of in-kind donations has been provided by USAID to assist Ivorian refugees, and the host communities that have generously sheltered them.

According to Katey Schein Prudhomme, Food for Peace Officer at USAID Liberia, “USAID is pleased to support the Government of Liberia and the UN World Food Program in responding to the ongoing needs of Ivorian refugees and their Liberian hosts.” USAID is actively monitoring the situation in Liberia with regard to the substantial number of refugees still displaced as a result of instability in Côte d’Ivoire last year.

For more than 50 years, the USAID Office of Food for Peace program has brought hope and nourishment to needy corners of the world. Approximately three billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from US food provided through Food for Peace programs.