The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) announced a new partnership Thursday with Islamic Relief Worldwide to increase cooperation to help feed the world's poor. For many years, WFP has worked alongside Islamic Relief in crises as diverse as the Pakistan earthquake and the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, said WFP director James Morris. "Strengthening our relationship in this way is the next logical step." Morris said WFP relies on Islamic Relief to help in areas such as Sudan, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian territories because of its strong contacts in the Muslim world. "As we learned in Lebanon, when the conflict erupted this summer, it is important to have allegiances like this to ensure we can deliver aid quickly and effectively to those who need it most," Morris said. WFP plans to involve Islamic Relief in its emergency programs as well as in longer-term programs including school feedings and rehabilitation of disaster victims. The partnership is noteworthy because it joins the United Nations with the Arab world, Morris said. Saudi Arabia is the 16th largest donor to WFP, contributing $31 million in 2006 for operations in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Pakistan, east and west Africa, and Cambodia. Gulf countries have raised the overall contributions of the region, and WFP noted that the region may rank among the top ten donors to combat global hunger by 2006.
