Addis Abeba — The Government of Belgium donated 1.331,028.million USD to the the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) activities in Ethiopia, the UN agency said in a media statement on Thursday.

WFP said the donation was made ahead of a visit to WFP activities in Ethiopia by two officials from the Belgium Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, in Brussels.

The Belgian Government's donation was divided in two tranches, the UN agency said reffering to a recent donation by Belgium of US $ 647,668 for the emergency component of WFP's Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, which it said was assisting up to 6.4 million people in Ethiopia, currently affected by drought and other natural disasters.

WFP said this contribution would be used to procure some 885 metric tons of wheat.

Last September, Belgium also contributed US $ 683,360 to WFP which WFP used to repay a loan to the organization's internal Immediate Response Account (IRA) facility, which allowed WFP to receive advance funds to procure food commodities for its refugee programme in Ethiopia.

Attaches Mr. Jan Vermeir and Ms. Silvia Croes, from the Department for Emergency Aid are travelling to northeast and eastern Ethiopia to observe at first hand how WFP is utilizing their Government's donations in its field operations.

WFP Acting Country Director in Ethiopia, Felix B. F. Gomez, stated that with the Government of Belgium's cooperation and partnership, WFP was able to meet the urgent food needs of food insecure and vulnerable beneficiaries, many of whom have little or no opportunity to find food for themselves, given the impact and scope of the current drought, the statement said.

Gomez added that as WFP is experiencing funding shortfalls to its programmes, donor contributions are especially critical, and could mean the difference between the agency providing full or reduced food rations to beneficiaries.

The Belgian Ambassador to Ethiopia Gunther Sleeuwagen, re-affirmed his country's commitment towards working closely with humanitarian actors in Ethiopia to help enhance the livelihoods of people in the country, according to WFP's press statement.

The Belgian delegation will first visit Kebribeyah refugee camp in the Somali region of eastern Ethiopia.

Kebribeyah is one of the oldest refugee camps in eastern Ethiopia, having been established after Somali nationals fled civil unrest in their country in the early 1990's.

WFP's refugee programme operation is presently assisting 80,000 registered Sudanese, Eritrean and Somali refugees hosted in seven different camps throughout the country.

The delegation will also observe other WFP field programme operations, including land rehabilitation activities, food assistance to acutely moderately malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women, and support to HIV/AIDS infected and affected households in urban areas to help individuals meet their basic nutritional needs and develop their capacity to cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS.