During the meeting of the working group on providing assistance to countries suffering from an acute food crisis, the expansion of the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative and the involvement of international experts familiar with the problems of Africa were discussed.

As stated by the head of the President’s office Andrii Yermak, this will help to better implement the initiative.

One of the first ambassadors of ‘Grain from Ukraine’ in Africa is the former president of Malawi, Dr. Joyce Banda, who is currently actively involved in a number of international organizations, including the executive committee of UN Women.

According to Yermak, the regional director of Central and West Africa programs of the National Democratic Institute (USA), Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, who led international election observation missions and managed democracy support programs in many countries in Africa, also joined the initiative.

The third ambassador is the former education minister of Nigeria and ex-vice president of the World Bank, Dr. Obi Ezekwesili, who is currently a Senior Advisor at the African Economic Development Policy Initiative and Regional Director of the National Democratic Institute in Africa.

Since the start of the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ program in November 2022, more than 30 donor countries have joined it. These are the countries of the European Union, Qatar, Turkey, Japan, Norway, Korea, Canada and the USA. So far, the participants have announced the allocation of almost 200 million dollars.