UN Gives Senegal $7m For Food Security

The United Nations has given Senegal seven million dollars to support  the west African nation’s fight against food insecurity, Valerie Amos, the UN Deputy Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs, has said.

Amos made this known recently in Dakar at a meeting with the Senegalese Prime Minister, Abdoul Mbaye.

The meeting is to discuss government’s response to the current situation of food security and malnutrition in Senegal.

Amos, who is also Coordinator of UN Emergency Relief programmes, said that the UN had already allocated seven million dollars that should be distributed to various UN agencies in Dakar, in support of the Senegalese government’s plan to curb food insecurity.

She said Senegalese authorities had already taken steps to deal with issues of malnutrition, access to health, livestock and agricultural support and that the UN was in the country to assess the ongoing plan and provide support where necessary.

Amos took advantage of her three-day visit to Senegal to see the various humanitarian programmes implemented by the Senegalese government and commended the government for spending huge amounts of money to bring immediate response to the food crisis and malnutrition.

“I visited communities in Diourbel (central Senegal) and I noticed how local authorities, religious leaders and local stakeholders collaborated to fight against malnutrition,”she said.

She said food insecurity was a serious issue in the West African sub region.

“Amos said 18 million people were affected by malnutrition in the Sahel, including 6.5 million in Niger and 800,000 in Senegal.

“To this, might be added the political instability in Mali that could worsen the situation,” she added.