REACHING THE FURTHEST BEHIND TO END POVERTY AND HUNGER

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Djibouti, Mr. José Barahona, participated in a field visit to the Tadjourah region where he met with some vulnerable communities receiving life-saving food assistance during the drought emergency. In collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarity of Djibouti and thanks to the generous contribution of the CERF Fund, WFP delivers food commodities to affected households living in the north of the country, in the Region of Tadjourah, and localities of Mounkour, Kodoqyeh and Doubte-Bolli.

The region is characterized by water scarcity, erratic rainfalls, far-to-reach communities and isolated lands. In these vast arid lands scarce nomadic houses can be spotted. More striking is the absence of health or educational services close by.

“I am impressed by the extraordinary work of WFP, UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Affairs, whose mandate to end hunger, ensure food security, prevent and treat malnutrition among children and breastfeeding women sees the light in their joint collaboration in the field” comments Barahona upon reaching Aouda. Due to lack of access to roads and localities, a community of 80 families has to undertake a 24-hour journey, by foot, to the nearest road point, where WFP provides them with  wheat, oil and yellow split peas.  

“From here, the men and the widowed women of the community undertake a two day journey with dromedaries transporting the food, to reach Ethiopia and mill grain into flour” says Fatouma, a widow, about to continue the food journey across borders.

For Hasna, a young married woman with three children, food commodities distributed by WFP are appreciated and correspond to their eating preferences.  “What we do is wait for them to come home and then start cooking for our children and families” she explains. “We like galettes (a type of pancakes) and couscous”.

To coordinate and organize food distribution, WFP staff from Tadjourah office connect, share information and beneficiaries list with the community leader who knows each person in his locality.

“What we want is to make sure that everyone has food and children can grow healthy” says Ambiya Mohamed, Head of WFP office in Tadjourah. With his team, they even “travel by car to the communities – if no telephone services are available- to inform, sensitize and prepare the communities for the assistance”.

In total, WFP reached 800 vulnerable people with around 10,720 kg of wheat, 800 litres of oil and 1,120 kg of yellow split peas, each month, in the localities of Aouda, Kodoqyeh and Doubtte-Bolli.

The UN Resident Coordinator also visited a health center in Dorra, funded by the European Union and working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Djibouti. Joint efforts aim to prevent malnutrition among children aged 6 to 23 months and provide maternity care to pregnant and breastfeeding women in rural areas.

“A good nutritional guidance, delivered by WFP training to counselling mothers in the area, along with the provision of life-saving ready-to-use therapeutic food  gives a source of energy and micronutrients, vitamins and minerals that can help treat thousands of children threatened by severe wasting – the most dangerous form of malnutrition” adds Abdallah Hamadou, UNICEF Programme Officer in Tadjourah.

Joint and coordinated efforts proved that “to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, Goals shared by all of us as Humanity, we need close collaboration between UN Agencies and Governments, sharing of technical expertise for improvement and great focus on the realization of a world with no hunger, with food security, and with good health and well-being for all” concludes Barahona. The road is long, but together, we can reach the most vulnerable people, in the furthest places on Earth.