In a press release, the WFP in Egypt explained how the launched cash delivery platform would also be made available to other UN agencies to help them assist people arriving in Egypt from Sudan.
The food agency has conducted a rapid assessment to identify the most vulnerable arrivals that need assistance. This cash assistance will allow them to access basic food and other essential needs.
The WFP is already supporting over 100,000 refugees in Egypt through its existing cash delivery platform. The agency will now provide additional support to the most vulnerable families who have arrived in Egypt with nothing or have run out of money after a long and perilous journey.
The cash assistance platform was launched 15 May and will be provided in addition to the emergency ready-to-eat food packages that new arrivals receive upon entering Egypt.
At the onset of the crisis, the WFP dispatched more than 20 metric tons of fortified emergency food assistance. The Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC), at the two entry points of Arqeen and Qustol on the Egyptian-Sudanese borders, later distributed additional packages of food.
The WFP is coordinating with the government of Egypt and the ERC to provide assistance and has so far dispatched food assistance for nearly 90,000 Sudanese people.
According to Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 88,000 people, including 83,000 Sudanese and 5,000 Egyptians and third-country nationals have crossed through the Sudan-Egypt border as of 11 May.
The WFP also stated that Egypt was already hosting over 60,000 Sudanese refugees prior to the onset of the conflict and that the programme has been a long-term supporter of the most vulnerable, providing monthly cash assistance to more than 10,000 people to help them secure their basic food needs.
Refugees receive monthly cash assistance through e-cards redeemable at over 140,000 points of sale nationwide.
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