'1 Billion Meals' initiative begins distribution operations in 13 countries

The “1 Billion Meals” initiative, which aims to provide food support to the underprivileged and undernourished in 50 countries around the world, announced that it has started distributing food support in 13 countries in less than three weeks after its launch at the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The initiative, organised by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), has started distribution operations in cooperation with the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), the Food Banking Regional Network (FBRN), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment (MBRCH), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UAE Food Bank, and several local charity and humanitarian organizations in the beneficiary countries.

Volunteers distribute boxes of the '1 Billion Meals.'

The 13 countries where distribution has begun are Nigeria, India, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Tajikistan, Uganda, UAE, Kosovo, USA, and Albania utilising the existing field and logistical networks of the initiative’s operational partners.

The initiative’s collaboration with UNHCR allows it to directly reach beneficiaries in in two countries – Nigeria, and India.

An official puts a box of the 'i Billion Meals' on the head of a woman.

As part of its first distribution operations, food aid has reached beneficiaries in Nigeria’s Cross River State refugee camp for Cameroonians.

FBRN has started distributing long-term food items and food parcels with storable ingredients to the beneficiaries of the 1 Billion Meals initiative in Sudan, Jordan, and Lebanon.

A woman carries a box of 'I Billion Meals.'

For its part, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment began distributing food aid to beneficiaries in Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Tajikistan, and Uganda, in coordination with local authorities and relevant organisations.

The “1 Billion Meals” initiative, the largest of its kind in the region, represents the values of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, which aims to involve everyone in charity and humanitarian work, including individuals and organisations from various sectors in the UAE and the world. With its focus on the concept of sustainable community contribution through crowdfunding, to provide food support and food security for the less fortunate, the initiative opens the door to participation in a comprehensive social movement aimed at creating a network to support the undernourished and underprivileged.

WAM