24 September 2020. Rome. Victor L. Vasiliev, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to FAO and other International Organizations in Rome, and K.Manente, Director of the WFP Partnership and Resource Mobilization Department, signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) on the procedure for transferring and spending targeted voluntary Russian contributions for food assistance to Syria ($ 20 million) in 2020-2021 and the development of sustainable school feeding systems in Tajikistan ($ 11.2 million) in 2020-2023. The ceremony was conducted in online mode.

Under the Memorandum dedicated to assistance to Syria, WFP will ensure purchase of domestic food for subsequent distribution as humanitarian aid to the population in need of said country. The document also covers support for school feeding programs and the distribution of food vouchers among pregnant and lactating women.

The MOU on Tajikistan finances the 3rd phase of the WFP School Feeding Project in the Republic, which covers more than 500 thousand primary school students.

The signing of these agreements confirms the policy of strengthening the interaction between the Russian Federation and the WFP in accordance with the Agreement on Strategic Partnership between the Government of the Russian Federation and the UN World Food Program (WFP) for 2019-2022 concluded
in Rome in April 2019.