WFP seeks $746 mln for emergency operation in Sudan

July 5, 2006 (NAIROBI) — The UN World Food Program (WFP) said Wednesday it is seeking 746 million U.S. dollars from donors in 2006 for its emergency operation to feed more than six million people in Sudan’s South, Darfur, and the East areas.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the UN agency said the Sudanese government in May donated 20,000 metric tons of sorghum to WFP to feed displaced and vulnerable communities in the westernregion of Darfur, following a critical shortage of food aid stocks.

WFP said pockets of severe malnutrition had already been identified as well as areas where households had exhausted their food stocks in south, and parts of Darfur.

The results just released from a WFP-coordinated assessment in the long-neglected east of Sudan show chronic malnutrition after decades of drought and poverty.

“This year, many people in the east are being pushed to their limits with the added burden of fast-rising food prices,” it said.

Malnutrition rates are comparable to the south and Darfur. The east is part of the overall appeal (seeking 302 million dollars) for the south so an immediate response from donors is essential, according to the WFP.

(Xinhua/ST)