A contribution of €1 million from the European Union (EU) has enabled the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide vital food assistance to nearly 100,000 people in three regions of Mauritania during this year’s lean season.

The EU funding provided to WFP earlier this year was vital to helping the most vulnerable communities through the crucial June-October period, when people’s food stocks run out and market prices are the highest, limiting people’s access to food. WFP provided monthly cash transfers to vulnerable families, allowing them to put food on the table and protect their livelihoods.

“We know we can always count on the generous support of the European Union to reach vulnerable people in need with food assistance,” said Nacer Benalleg, WFP Representative and Country Director in Mauritania. “We look forward to continuing our partnership to save lives and change lives in Mauritania,” he added.

This food assistance was complemented by WFP’s malnutrition treatment and prevention programme that provides young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women with nutritious fortified cereals and specialised nutritious foods. This was focused in Guidimakha, Assaba and Gorgol - areas that face the most severe hunger and malnutrition in the country.

“Many families would have sold their assets or gone hungry had they not received WFP assistance. Being able to feed our kids is a relief for me and my husband” said Menna Sabar, a 32-year-old woman who received cash assistance thanks to the EU-funded project.

The families supported by WFP were identified through Mauritania’s unified social registry. This tool, used by WFP and its partners for the first time this year, provides information on households eligible for social support services, enhancing the efficiency of the government’s social protection programmes.

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The United Nations World Food Programme - saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.