Kathmandu - With road travel severely
curtailed, schools shut and major cities under curfew for the last three
weeks, the United Nations World Food Programme in Nepal has not been able
to deliver critically needed food aid to communities around the country,
including to over half a million school children.
While more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees
living in eastern Nepal have been receiving supplies after WFP appealed
to all parties to allow safe passage to food convoys travelling to the
region, most operations in other parts of Nepal have come to a standstill
in the last few weeks. Before this political crisis, WFP was providing
food to over one million persons living in severely food insecure areas
of the country.
"The crisis has put vulnerable communities in danger," said Anthony Banbury, WFP Regional Director for Asia. "Children have not been fed in schools, mothers and pregnant women have not received nutritional support and communities have not received food to support their poorest members. We hope that yesterday's political developments will allow us to quickly resume food deliveries and distributions".
"A solution to the political-security crisis must be consolidated as soon as possible so that the poorest persons of Nepal do not continue to suffer as a result of this crisis," Banbury continued. "WFP urges all parties to the present crisis to work together to see that these critical food aid programmes and other humanitarian operations can resume, and to work to avert a larger food security crisis."
Since January, WFP has pre-positioned emergency supplies and equipment for immediate use in Nepal should political crisis or natural disaster result in extended food shortages in Kathmandu and elsewhere. This pre-positioning, made possible by support from Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States of America, gives WFP crucial capability and flexibility in responding immediately to a deepening emergency.
"Food aid is critically needed at this time of year when households in many districts have to reduce the number of meals in order to cope with the lean agricultural season," said Jean-Pierre de Margerie, acting WFP Country Director in Nepal. "In some areas, school feeding programmes provide children with the most nutritious food they will receive that day, giving them the crucial vitamins and minerals needed for their growth and development".
As well as providing food to children in schools, WFP runs food-for-work programmes that provide rations to 300,000 people, allowing communities where food is scarce to build roads to access markets and nearby towns. Another 17,000 mothers and young children are provided with food as part of nutrition and health programmes. All these programmes have been under threat with the closure of roads and other transport networks.
Working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), WFP also provides food to 105,000 Bhutanese refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal who are totally dependent on external assistance to meet their basic needs. After food shipments to the refugees were disrupted following the start of the general strike on 6 April, WFP and UNHCR organised food convoys to the camps from the towns of Biratnagar and Kakarvitta, and appealed to all parties for safe passage. The convoys have been travelling without hindrance since 18 April.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 61 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries. WFP -- We Feed People..
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.
Visit our website: www.wfp.org
For more information please contact (email: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Jean-Pierre de Margerie, WFP/ Kathmandu, Tel. +977-1-554-2607 ext. 2101, Mob. +977-9-851022619
Paul Risley, WFP/Bangkok, Tel. +66-2-655-4115 ext.2020, Mob. +66-1-9019208
Anthea Webb, WFP/ Rome, Tel: +39-06-6513-2411, Mob. +39-340-863-6509
Christiane Berthiaume, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41-22-9178564, Cell. +41-792857304
Trevor Rowe, WFP/New York, Tel. +1-212-9635196, Cell. +1-6468241112, rowe@un.org
Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel.. +44-20-72409001, Cell. +44-7968-008474
Jennifer Parmelee, WFP/Washington, Tel. +1-202-6530010 ext. 1149, Mob. +1-202-4223383