WFP Humanitarian Operations In Somalia Start To Return To Normal

WFP operations in Somalia started to return to normal today
after the disruption of the last two weeks.


-- The United Nations is trying to estimate the levels of
displacement of civilians in Somalia caused by fighting amid a
gradual increase since last week of new Somali refugees
arriving at the Kenyan border crossing point of Liboi to reach
refugee camps at Dadaab.


-- However, most displacement within Somalia appears to have been
fairly localized and people moved back home after security was
established.


-- Kenyan officials, however, were quoted on Tuesday as saying the
border with Somalia had been sealed. Some 260 Somalis at Liboi
were awaiting processing to enter Kenya and reports said at least
three vehicles carrying Somalis were turned back by the Kenyan
authorities.


-- UN Common Air Services passenger and cargo flights, which are
managed by WFP, resumed last Friday from Nairobi to Somalia and
are continuing -- though flights to Mogadishu cannot start until an
assessment is carried out by the UN Department of Safety and
Security.


-- National staff relocated by road from the southern port of
Kismayo west to Afmadow, Hagar and then on Monday to Buale, which
is under the control of the Transitional Federal Government, were
flown on Tuesday to WFP's logistics base in the southern Somali
town of Wajid.


-- A total of 10 WFP staff and five other humanitarian workers
flew aboard a WFP plane to Wajid. One WFP member of staff stayed
behind in Buale to reopen our sub-office.


-- The flights follow the Transitional Federal Government allowing
humanitarian flights to resume after declaring Somalia's land, air
and sea borders closed on 25 December.


-- WFP relief commodities and other items in Somalia are intact
while all staff are accounted for.


-- Food distributions to flood-affected people in Afmadow district
of southern Somalia resumed on Monday after being suspended on 28
December.


-- Two international WFP staff returned to Wajid by UNCAS plane
from Nairobi on Monday.


-- In flood-affected areas, water levels are lower so WFP is
exploring the possibility of resuming helicopter operations to reach
locations that are still inaccessible by land.


-- WFP is also investigating the viability of resuming food
delivery by boat. It is doubtful that airdrops from the Kenyan port
of Mombasa will resume in Somalia given the improved road
access and the relative expense of airdrops.


-- A WFP-chartered ship with 4,500 metric tons of WFP food arrived
in Mogadishu on 26 December and started discharging the same day.
While the Somali control of the port changed three times - from the
Islamic Courts to a sub-clan to the TFG - dock workers
continued to unload the vessel and completed their work by Friday
night.


Background


On 27 December, WFP announced the suspension of its helicopter
operation delivering humanitarian aid from the Somali port of
Kismayo and both its air drop operation and passenger flights from
Kenya into Somalia.


On 26 December, WFP temporarily relocated two Mi-8 helicopters and
25 humanitarian workers from Kismayo to Nairobi. They included 9 WFP
staff (1 national and 8 international), 14 crew members and 2 UN
security officers involved in air operations from Kismayo.


On 24 & 25 December, WFP carried out airdrops into Somalia, dropping
a total of 28 metric tons of food.


WFP still has more than 100 national staff in Somalia operating from
15 offices across the country; they are continuing to distribute
food to victims of the floods, the preceding drought and the most
vulnerable in other areas.


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 58 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:
wfp