CAIRO – FN’s Verdensfødevareprogram (WFP) har iværksat et projekt i det nordlige Egypten for at yde fødevarehjælp og assistance til at genindtræde på arbejdsmarkedet, for de der er flygtet fra volden i Libyen.
WFP is providing take-home food rations to participants in food-for-training initiatives that aim to equip returnees with the skills needed to re-enter the labour force. This project will target 70.000 returnees and their families, totalling around 350.000 people, for a period of two months between May and August.
Participants come from the rural areas in five governorates in Upper Egypt, the poorest region in the country. This includes communities that have been hard hit by the loss of remittances previously being sent home by migrant workers in Libya.
“A joint WFP and UNICEF assessment in the southern governorates of Assiut and Sohag in March found that, with income sources now lost, these workers are almost entirely reliant upon savings that are running out fast,” said WFP Representative and Country Director in Egypt Gianpietro Bordignon.
It is estimated that over 200.000 Egyptians have returned to their homes in rural Egypt since violence erupted in Libya in late February. The majority of these are low-skilled workers from Upper Egypt where few livelihood opportunities exist.
