Kathmandu, September 1:

Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Graeme Lade, and UN World Food Programme Deputy Country Director, Dominique Hyde, are satisfied with the WFP food aid distribution in Kailali, the WFP said in a statement.

Lade and Hyde had visited Kailali on Thursday.

Australia has contributed $4.24 lakh to the WFP for emergency food assistance to Nepal to deal with food scarcity in flood affected regions.

“The visit was an opportunity to observe the damage. I was impressed that food distribution in Kailali was proceeding smoothly,” the statement quoted Lade as saying.

Over 26,000 people in Banke, Bardiya, and Kailali have received food rations under WFP’s emergency response operation in the affected region. Flooding has displaced over 22,000 families and damaged or destroyed over 70,000 homes across Nepal.

“The Australian assistance has enabled the WFP to respond quickly to feed flood-affected families, who are in need of food as they struggle to recover from the loss of their homes and livelihoods,” WFP Deputy Country Director, Dominique Hyde, said.

The food aid is being distributed by the Nepal Red Cross Society and WFP staff. Additional donors to the WFP’s emergency operation to provide food assistance to the flood-affected families in Nepal include the governments of Germany, Luxembourg and Spain.