UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Washington File

23 May 2003

Text: U.N. To Distribute Food Aid to All Iraqis Starting June 1

(Has plans to feed full population through September) (740)
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will begin distributing
food aid to the entire Iraqi population beginning June 1.
In a May 22 press release, WFP said the agency wants to have 480,000
metric tons of food available every month through September to feed
all of Iraq's 27 million people.
It also will lay groundwork for the transition from a food
distribution system of government rations to one that is market-based,
according James Morris, WFP executive director.
WFP will help Iraq's wheat board become operational, replace or repair
damaged agricultural production equipment and purchase 1.2 million
tons of Iraqi wheat this year, using funds from the U.N. Oil-for-Food
Program, the release said.
The United States has contributed $371 million of WFP's $491 million
for emergency food aid to Iraq, according to the release.
Following is the text of the release:
(begin text)
May 22
WFP: ENTIRE IRAQI POPULATION TO RECEIVE FOOD RATION STARTING JUNE 1
NEW YORK -- Full food distribution to the entire population of Iraq
will begin on June 1st, through 44,000 food agents in place across the
country, the United Nations World Food Programme Executive Director,
James T. Morris, announced on Thursday.
In a statement to the UN Security Council, Morris said WFP had already
delivered more than 200,000 metric tons of food to Iraq, using five
corridors through Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait and Iran. This is
enough to feed some 14 million people -- half the Iraqi population --
for one month. From June to September, WFP's objective is to ensure
that 480,000 tons of food are available every month to feed all 27
million Iraqis under the existing public distribution system.
"With the restoration of the public distribution system, we are
confident that we can avoid any hunger among Iraqis," Morris said.
Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council passed a resolution which
lifted sanctions and outlined plans for the post-war administration of
Iraq. In his statement, Morris stressed the importance of laying the
groundwork for transition from a system of government rations to a
market food economy.
"WFP has supported the procurement and delivery of food commodities
for public distribution during this time of upheaval in Iraq. But now
we look forward to handing over these responsibilities as a new
administration comes on line," Morris said.
Speaking of his impressions during his visit to Baghdad on May 11th,
Morris said the issue of security for staff, warehouses, silos, mills
and offices remained the biggest challenge for WFP in Iraq. So far, 28
WFP international staff are back in Iraq to bolster the work of the
more than 700 national staff who remained in the country throughout
the conflict. More international staff will go into Iraq as the
security situation allows.
Morris said another challenge was the procurement of Iraq's wheat
harvest this year. WFP has undertaken to purchase up to 1.2 million
tons of grain from the harvest, using funds from the UN Oil-for-Food
Programme (OFFP). But in order for it to purchase the harvest, a Grain
board must be helped to function, salaries must be paid, looted and
damaged equipment must be replaced or repaired and arrangements made
for paying large-scale cash disbursements, in the absence of a
functioning banking system.
To date, WFP has received US$491 million in donations for its
emergency operation in Iraq. In addition, it hopes to raise US$947
million in food and associated costs from the OFFP. The Programme is
appealing for a total of US$1.85 billion for the operation.
The United States has made the biggest donation -- with US$371 million
committed so far. The UK has contributed US$53 million, Canada nearly
US$14 million, Japan more than US$13 million and Italy over US$12
million.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency. In 2002 WFP fed 72
million people in 82 countries including most of the world's refugees
and internally displaced people.
For regular updates and background information on WFP's humanitarian
operations in the Iraqi region, visit our website's Iraq Crisis
section at www.wfp.org.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign -- As the largest provider of
nutritious meals to poor school children, WFP has launched a global
campaign aimed at ensuring the world's 300 million undernourished
children are educated.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list