Saudi Arabia donates food to evacuees in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on Monday donated 100 cartons of dates to the internally displaced peoples in the conflict-stricken areas in Mindanao. A statement from humanitarian organization World Food Programme (WFP) said the KSA extended two metric tons of dates for distribution to 160,000 displaced persons in North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sharif Kabunsuan and Maguindanao provinces. Mohammed Ameen Mohammed Wali, Ambassador of the Embassy of the KSA to the Philippines, requested that this donation be included in WFP's immediate response to conflict-affected vulnerable populations in southern Philippines. Stephen Anderson, WFP’s Country Director and Representative to the Philippines said that the KSA’s donation will hopefully encourage further support to the organization’s efforts to bring a “peace dividend" to the communities in Minadanao hard-hit by poverty and hunger. “On behalf of the UN World Food Programme, we are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the guidance of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Mohammed Ameen Mohammed Wali for its generous support to WFP's humanitarian efforts in the Philippines and worldwide," Anderson said. Saudi Arabia is the second largest donor to WFP globally for the year 2008. - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV