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Mauritania + 1 more

WFP Mauritania Country Brief, July 2024

Attachments

In Numbers

105,688 vulnerable people assisted

10,665 mt of food distributed

US$ 1,191,997 in cash transferred

US$ 20 million six-month net funding requirements (August 2024 - January 2025)

Operational Updates

Refugee response in the Mbera Refugee Camp: In July, WFP delivered cash assistance to 76,460 people (of which 41,824 were women). In addition, WFP provided 520 children aged 6 to 59 months (of which 257 were girls) and 290 pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls with specialized nutritious food to treat moderate acute malnutrition.

2024 Lean Season Response: From 9-18 July, WFP initiated the first cycle of the lean season response distribution in Kankossa department, where 2,999 beneficiaries were assisted. From 7-12 July, a support mission from WFP Dakar Regional Bureau was conducted to oversee the start of the distributions and to ensure the implementation of the cash TOP UP Nutrition component. Integrated Resilience PackageSchool Feeding: At the end of July, WFP and the Ministry of Education launched a fact-finding mission to explore how local food supply chains can support school feeding programs in Mauritania. This mission aimed to identify potential areas for a pilot project to be launched at the beginning of the next school year, in early October. Treatment of moderate acute malnutrition: in July, WFP and SIC4CHANGE conducted a joint mission to introduce the new partner (Au Secours), assess the progress of nutrition activities in the Barkeol department and to explain the partner’s role in monitoring the project. The mission also identified nutrition-sensitive income-generating activities in Godemiches and Assaba regions as part of malnutrition prevention efforts. In July, 218 children were monitored through the platform NUT4HEALTH, achieving a recovery rate of 99 percent. Additionally, SIC4CHANGE trained four focal points on the use of the NUT4HEALTH tool. The trainees learned how to generate reports and provided feedback on the tool's limitations. Furthermore, 567 women received telematic messages reminding them of vaccination appointments and essential family care practices. WFP provided specialized nutritious food (RUSF and Super Cereal) to 2,149 children aged 6 to 59 months (1,220 were girls) with a recovery rate of 97 percent.

Food assistance for assets (FFA): WFP conducted a series of missions to support cooperating partners across Assaba, Guidimakha, and Hodh El Chargui from 11-28 July. These missions facilitated the launch of the resilience site mapping process and the familiarization with various tools, including manuals of procedures (SOPs) and technical sheets, to strengthen the implementation of activities. Meanwhile, a mission to test data collection tools for launching nutrition-sensitive incomegenerating activities (IGAs) took place in Guidimakha and Assaba from 25 July to 03 August 2024.

Additionally, from 23 July to 02 August 2024, a joint mission involving WFP, the Directorate of Nutritional and Health Education and the Ministry of Agriculture explored the possibility of establishing a cash project with the procurement of local products. On 28 July, WFP participated in the International Tree Day celebrations organized by the Ministry of the Environment in Awleygatt in the region of Trarza. WFP and UNICEF finalized the joint revision of the Community and Participatory Planning (CPP) tool. The revised tool now considers community planning related to UNICEF's mandate, in particular support for education, Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), child protection and gender. Capacity-strengthening: At the request of the Mauritanian Government, WFP hired an international expert in food systems, who will be seconded to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The consultant will take up his duties at the ministry after completing his onboarding with WFP. The contract for the ARC Replica program covering risks related to pastoral drought for the 2024-2025 season was signed.

Gender: From 8-12 July, WFP organized a series of awarenessraising sessions on gender, protection, and the Complaint and Feedback Mechanism for focus group beneficiaries and their communities as part of the lean season response in the Assaba region. The sessions were conducted in the local languages, Pular and Hassaniya, ensuring that the messages were easily understood. These sessions reaffirmed WFP's commitment to protection and its Accountability to Affected Populations in Mauritania by continuing to apply a Zero Tolerance approach.

The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) transported 107 passengers and 231 kg of cargo connecting Nouakchott to Bassikounou, Kiffa, and Nema via 25 in-country rotations.