Once completed, the facility will increase and improve the flow of humanitarian food from Termez, Uzbekistan to Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan. The project is supported by the Government of Uzbekistan, the local authorities, and the Termez Cargo Centre.
"We are happy that the United Nations is expanding their warehouse capacity here in Termez," said Irgashev. "At a time when two thirds of the population of Afghanistan rely on humanitarian assistance to survive, it is our duty as the international community to stand by their side."
WFP's existing Logistics Hub in Termez has served as a transshipment point for WFP's Afghanistan operations since 2021. WFP plans to add an additional 8,000 m2 to the current 14,500 m2 warehouse capacity in the upcoming months. This will increase WFP's total storage capacity in Termez by more than half.
"With the support of the Government of Uzbekistan, more than 1,000 metric tons of food are crossing the border from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan each day," said Hsiao-Wei Lee, Country Director for WFP Afghanistan. "In the upcoming months, this increase to our warehouse capacity will greatly facilitate our ability to serve the 20 million Afghans currently in need of food assistance. While our partners and donors have been incredibly generous with their contributions, we still need an additional US$1.5 billion to reach all the people we have planned to serve."
In Afghanistan in 2022, WFP reached 23 million people, distributed 1.1 million metric ton of food and US$325 million in cash transfers. Of the 23 million people assisted, 11.6 million were women and 12.3 million were children. WFP injects an average of US$55 million per month into the local economy.
