Of the total, 32% comes from Russia, especially from its Ministry of Civil Protection.
14ymedio, Havana, 26 June 2025 — The World Food Programme (WFP) has allocated $57.9 million to Cuba in support of food and nutrition security projects since 2021.
With the funds, the official press reported Thursday, “rice, grains, and oil have been purchased to benefit the most vulnerable people and to respond to food emergencies in the country.”
At least five million dollars of the total was used to “supplement a varied and nutritious diet” for primary school children (ages 5 to 11).
“We will continue to provide support to our sister country, Cuba, both through international organizations and bilaterally.”
Of the total, according to WFP figures, 32% comes from Russia, “with significant contributions made through its Ministry of Civil Protection, Emergencies and Disaster Management” (Emercom).
The Russian aid has made it possible to purchase 844 metric tons (MT) of vegetable oil this year, of which 656 MT have already arrived on the island, according to a report in Adelante. On June 18, 470 MT of the same product also arrived as a donation, “to benefit victims and vulnerable sectors.”
“We will continue to provide support to our sister Cuba, both through international organizations and bilaterally,” declared the Russian ambassador to the island, Víctor V. Koronelli, at a ceremony held that day at the Ministry of Domestic Trade’s Loading and Unloading Distribution Center in Old Havana, which official media described as “simple.”
The diplomat recalled that in 2024 they delivered to the Cuban Public Health system “emergency modules and medications, as well as fire and rescue motorcycles, bags of sanitary first aid, and water purification filters, and earlier, food donations of sunflower oil and peas arrived.”
In February of last year, in the midst of the systemic crisis from which the island has yet to recover, the Cuban government formally requested assistance from the WFP for the first time to distribute rationed milk to children under seven.
The diplomat recalled that in 2024 they delivered “emergency modules and medications” to the Cuban Public Health system.
The UN program recognized the “urgent need” and, in a statement, emphasized “the importance of this request,” especially in the context of the “deep economic crisis facing Cuba,” which, in its view, was significantly impacting the population’s food and nutritional security.
At the time, the regime had not made public either the request or the initial multilateral contributions. In response to a letter sent by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment to the WFP executive directorate in Rome at the end of 2023, the UN agency indicated that in February 2024 it had managed to deliver “144 metric tons of skimmed milk powder,” benefiting nearly 48,000 children between seven months and three years of age in Pinar del Río and Havana—nearly 6% of the children to whom the government intends to provide subsidized milk.
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