The United States has delivered 75 tons of food, valued at nearly 22.4 million Kyrgyz som ($256,000), to the Kyrgyz Republic. The shipment was made possible through the U.S. government-funded International Food Relief Partnership (IFRP) and includes a vegetable and legume mix intended for health and social care facilities as well as households in need.
A ceremony marking the delivery took place at the National Tuberculosis Center, where U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Lesslie Viguerie presented a certificate to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health. Attendees saw a demonstration on how kitchen staff can use the mix to prepare local dishes such as soup, plov, and samsa.
The food will be distributed to more than 20,000 vulnerable people across over 80 health and social protection facilities, including long-term care centers for patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, orphanages, and psychiatric institutions.
“The International Food Relief Partnership shows how governments, non-profit organizations, and American manufacturing can come together to help people in need,” said Ambassador Viguerie.
The IFRP program supports U.S. non-profit and public international organizations in producing, transporting, delivering, and distributing shelf-stable foods. Each package contains dried carrots, onions, rice, and lentils.
This effort is a collaboration between the U.S. government, the Kyrgyz government, Ergene (a Kyrgyz organization), and Resource and Policy Exchange (a U.S.-based non-profit). Since 2006, IFRP has sent about 1,000 tons of food worth more than $3.6 million in foreign assistance to Kyrgyzstan. Resource and Policy Exchange works with Ergene on distribution within the country.