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WFP to cut down 30 pc food ration to Bhutanese refugees
The World Food Programme has announced reducing the food supplies to Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.The World Food Programme has announced reducing the food supplies to Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.
From next year onwards, the UN agency said food ration for most Bhutanese refugees will be slashed by around 30 percent as part of its effort to stretch the limited food resources to continue to feed the poor and the vulnerable. The refugees who will be affected are being informed of the change and it is being implemented in collaboration with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the government of Nepal, WFP Nepal Country Director Pippa Bradford said in a statement.
“We are grateful to our donors, who have allowed us to support this refugee community with a full food basket since they arrived,” Bradford said.
“However, as new, massive refugee crises around the world compete for limited donor funding, we have had to make this difficult decision in order to stretch decreased resources over a longer period of time.”
To protect the nutritional status of the most vulnerable refugees, full rations will continue for widows, women who do not have working-age men in their family, people with disabilities, the elderly, children aged six months to five years, and children who are separated from their parents or are unaccompanied. Additional nutrition support will also continue for pregnant and nursing women, children aged six months to five years, people living with HIV/Aids and tuberculosis patients, according to WFP.
“Refugees who do not fulfill the vulnerability criteria will receive 70 percent of the current ration starting early 2016. The composition of the reduced basket is currently under discussion with refugees’ representatives, so as to accommodate their preferences as much as possible. WFP will increase its monitoring of the nutritional status of refugees in order to detect new vulnerabilities.”