United States of America has welcomed the arrival in Djibouti of 23,300 metric tons of Ukrainian grain aboard the ship Brave Commander, to be distributed within Ethiopia and Somalia, and African countries with dangerous food insecure after four years of drought.
After 14 days at sea, the MV Brave Commander arrived in Djibouti carrying 23,000 tons of wheat from Ukraine which will be used to support World Food Programmme’s humanitarian response in Ethiopia, where over 20m people face hunger.
According to Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, “The United States is grateful for the important role Djibouti has played facilitating the flow of humanitarian goods to the region.
“As part of a more than $68 million recent contribution by the United States to the World Food Program (WFP), this grain is among the first shipments of Ukrainian agricultural products exported from the Black Sea to reach some of the world’s most food insecure countries since the beginning of Russia’s unjustified, full-scale attack on Ukraine on February 24”.
Adding that the United States is the largest contributor to the WFP, having provided $5.7 billion to organization since October 2021. “Since February, the United States has provided over $5.4 billion in humanitarian assistance to scale up emergency food security operations in food insecure countries globally.
Ukrainian agricultural products are critical to global food security. The United States supports the Turkey and UN-brokered deal between Ukraine and Russia to resume Ukrainian agricultural exports via the Black Sea.
“And we are closely monitoring Russia’s adherence to the deal’s terms. We call on Russia to immediately cease its war on Ukraine, which would do much to address the recent spike in global food insecurity.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has said that a few days ago he saw the WFP vessel get ready to sail for the Horn Of Africa as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. “My thanks to all involved in securing the arrival of this ship to Djibouti, carrying food from Ukraine to help fight hunger.
WFP Regional Director, Michael Dunford said, “Great to be in Djibouti to see the arrival of the Brave Commander. This is the first @WFP ship to carry Ukrainian grain since February. This is a positive step in the right direction. Now let’s keep up the momentum”.