Translated by Sabrin Qadah 

The Minister of Social Development “Ibrahim al Sha’er” signed on Wednesday a grant agreement that equals $2.6 million between the Japanese government and the World Food Program for the poor Palestinian people.

This assistance is frequent, and has exceeded $40 million over the past ten years.

The Japanese Ambassador to the State of Palestine “Takeshi Okubo”, and “Daniela Owen”, the director of the World Food Program were the ones who signed the agreement.

Both Al-sha’er and the Japanese people expressed their appreciation to the Palestinian government for its generous support of the World Food Program, praising the assistance provided by the Palestinian people, and their understanding of the humanitarian conditions of people, especially the Palestinian people.

Al-sha’er said, "Thanks to this generous support from Japan, the WFP will be able to provide food aid in kind for a period of two and a half month to about 89 thousand Palestinians who suffer food insecurity in the Gaza Strip."

The ambassador Okubo said: 'Japan will remain committed to supporting the Palestinian people in their quest for a state living in peace, security and prosperity.'

He also stressed on the Japanese government's commitment to continue supporting food aid projects for the Palestinians who are suffering food insecurity, and expressed appreciation for the efforts of the World Food Program and the large role played by the programs in helping the poor and vulnerable Palestinian children and improve the level and quality of feeding them.

On her part, Daniela Owen praised this grant from the Japanese government to help the poor in Palestine, especially that this generous support from Japan will open up prospects for further partnerships, and the development of relations with international partners.

Owen talked about privileged partnership between WFP and Japan and the governmental institutions, which lasted for more than ten years, and expressed her satisfaction with the generous support of the World Food Program that provides basic services to the poor categories of our people.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Social Development, Japan is one of the three most generous donors to the program in Palestine as well as one of the most important donors to the program on a global level. This Japanese generous support enables WFP to continue to invest in the local economy. Since 2011, WFP has invested more than $200 million to the Palestinian economy through the purchase of local food, especially through the electronic food voucher project.