Public HealthWFP Providing Meals To Thousands Of Sri Lankans Fleeing Civil Conflict
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced
that it has started providing cooked meals at a government screening
point
to feed thousands of desperate people fleeing the conflict zone in
northern
Sri Lanka.
"For many, this will be the first hot meal they have had in days or
perhaps
much longer," said Adnan Khan, WFP Representative in Sri Lanka, adding
that
a new wave of more than 3,000 people trapped by the conflict have
arrived
overnight at Omanthai. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) must
pass
through this government screening point before being transferred
to
temporary transit centres in Vavuniya and Jaffna.
The IDP population is expected to increase rapidly as the Sri Lankan
security forces advance into the small strip of coastal land where an
estimated 50,000 have been caught up in the fighting in an area now
estimated to be less than two square kilometres.
WFP is dispatching mixed food commodities to Omanthai from
prepositioned
stocks at its Vavuniya logistics hub. The expansion of
humanitarian
assistance is a part of WFP"s ongoing efforts to assist the Government
of
Sri Lanka in providing needed food to tens of thousands of people
displaced
by fighting in northern Sri Lanka. The government and WFP"s local
NGO
partner, Sevelanka, are responsible for cooking and distributing food
at
Omanthai. The International Organization for Migration with support
from
UNICEF is responsible for providing water for drinking and cooking.
WFP is currently feeding almost 200,000 IDPs in northern Sri Lanka,
located
in some 24 government-controlled temporary transit centres and villages in
Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar and Trincomalee districts.
Increased hostilities in the conflict zone over the last month
have
significantly restricted the amount of food and other
humanitarian
assistance that could be sent to the conflict zone. A major shipment
of
food has not reached the conflict zone since 1 April. Smaller
quantities
of food have reached the conflict zone with the support of the
government
and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Since 12 May, with the support of the government and ICRC, three
attempts
to deliver food by ship, including a 500 metric ton shipment, enough
to
feed 50,000 people for 20 days, have been unsuccessful because the
security
situation on the ground has prevented offloading. WFP has shipped more
than
2,000 metric tons of food to the conflict zone under an ICRC flagged
ship
since the government opened up the sea route to the conflict area
in
February.
In light of the growing humanitarian needs, WFP is appealing to its donors
for an additional US$41.5 million to meet the rapidly increasing needs of
internally displaced Sri Lankans.
WFP is the world"s largest humanitarian agency and the UN"s
frontline
agency for hunger solutions. In 2009, WFP aims to feed around 100
million
people in 77 countries.
WFP