India: From aid recipient to major donor

IN another indication of the improving health of Indian economy, the United Nations World Food Program has said that India has now become a major donor nation.

From being a net recipient in 2000, India is presently the 15th largest donor to the World Food Programme, said Tony Banbury, WFP’s Asia Regional Director. This speaks volumes about India’s increasing importance in confronting global challenges such as hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy in South Asia and around the world, he said.

Banbury appreciated the important role played by India in food assistance and in maintaining security in its neighboring countries of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan. In the past three years, India has made donations worth approximately $52 million to help assist children in Afghanistan and Iraq to come back and attend schools. Nearly two million children benefit from this contribution.

Funding for our food aid programs in Nepal, in Sri Lanka, and in Pakistan, continue to be a challenge, said Banbury, adding: I am concerned that any reductions in these feeding operations can undermine recovery and foster insecurity in these neighboring states to India.

Banbury is now on a week-long trip to India to take stock of the destruction caused by the recent floods in Rajasthan and Gujarat.