Reuters: U.N. to send Iraqi refugees food aid by text message
“They will be able to exchange their electronic vouchers for rice, wheat flour, lentils, chickpeas, oil and canned fish, as well as cheese and eggs—items that cannot usually be included in conventional aid baskets,” [WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella] told a Geneva news briefing.
Virtually all the 130,000 Iraqis who now regularly receive WFP food assistance in Syria have mobile phones, and the U.N. agency often sends text messages to tell them where food staples will be distributed, the spokeswoman said.
Casella described it as a way to help refugees eat a more diversified diet while also supporting local farmers and businesses.
