Ban Ki-moon Thanks Saudi Arabia for $104 Mln World Food Program Donation

UNITED NATIONS, December 10 (Sputnik) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for giving more than $100 million to the World Food Program.

"The Secretary-General expresses profound gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for his personal compassion and commitment to help those in need – irrespective of their faith, sect or ethnicity – through his generous contribution of $104 million to the United Nations World Food Program," said the statement published on the UN official website.

According to the statement, the Saudi donation will help the United Nations "provide millions of refugees from Syria, South Sudan and Somalia with life-saving food and nutrition assistance at a crucial time when food operations in those areas are under threat of suspension due to lack of financial support."

Founded entirely by voluntary donations, the World Food Program is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger.

After having to suspend food aid to some 1.7 million Syrian refugees on December 1, on Tuesday the World Food Program announced the launch of a social media fund raising campaign. The organization aims to provide Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt with electronic food vouchers, or e-cards, uploaded with an average amount of $30 per family member by mid-December. The refugees will be able to use the vouchers to buy food from local shops as soon as they receive them.