 |
|
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SOMALIA: Food aid for displaced near Kenyan border
NAIROBI, 17 Jan 2007 (IRIN) - Displaced Somalis living near the Kenyan border have received some food assistance, despite the recent closure of the frontier, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said.
"Some WFP-contracted trucks loaded with food were allowed to cross into Somalia from Liboi, but others were stopped at the border. These people have been trapped near Dhobley," the WFP-Somalia Deputy Country Director Leo van der Velden said.
An increasing number of civilians has moved towards the border, which remains closed due to the Kenyan government’s security concerns. Many of these are near Dhobley, a village of 12,000 people in Lower Juba region.
"We will organise another monthly distribution if the situation remains the way it is; otherwise we wind up [operations] according to plan," Van der Velden added. The five-day distribution, which started on Friday at Dhobley, is being done in conjunction with WASDA, a Somali NGO.
According to WFP, continuing military operations in Lower Juba had left 190,000 people in urgent need of food assistance. Kismayo, Jamaame and Jilib districts are also in need of aid.
"If we are to operate normally and efficiently, we first need peace," Van der Velden said. "Somalia was already suffering badly from the worst drought in a decade followed by the worst floods in years. Now it has renewed war in some of the same areas hit by drought and floods."
ro/ah/mw
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2007
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
