World Food Program Operational Update for Tsunami Victims

Total WFP Food Aid Delivered to Date - 9,744 metric tons


Total People Receiving Food Aid - 1,069,000


Level of funding for WFP's US$256-million emergency appeal ? 32%


INDONESIA


• WFP convoys and staff continued to move and work freely in Aceh today one day after government officials said foreign
aid workers would need permission to travel outside the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and the port of Meulaboh on the west
coast.


• The operations chief of the government's Aceh Disaster Relief Team in a statement on Wednesday clarified the new policy
applying to all foreigners, including aid workers and journalists.


• "Foreigners are free to operate in Banda Aceh and its surroundings (Banda Besar), as well as Meulaboh. However,
cooperation and coordination with the government is required for travel outside of those areas," the official said.


• He said all foreigners should register and request if they want to travel to an area outside Banda Aceh or Meulaboh. He
said the requirements were not to restrict access but to improve coordination and ensure the safety of foreigners.


• WFP hopes that these new requirements will not cause a bottleneck in the goal of getting relief supplies to the people
who need them and that this aim remains the government's priority.


• WFP is feeding more than 300,000 people in Aceh province, including 160,000 along the northeast coast in an ongoing
distribution of WFP food. WFP expects the number receiving food to increase to 500,000 in the next two weeks.


• A WFP team to assess the needs of people in Aceh is preparing to leave Banda Aceh on Friday to visit 17 sites in 10
days.


SRI LANKA


• James Morris, the Executive Director of WFP, will be arriving in Sri Lanka on Saturday, January 15, to tour affected
areas and review WFP operations throughout the country. Morris will depart Colombo late Sunday.


• WFP is continuing to move food throughout Sri Lanka with increased trucking capacity, more staff, newly opened offices,
and generous donations from the international community.


• WFP has dispatched enough food in Sri Lanka to feed 750,000 people, dispatching more than 6,500 metric tons of food
since the tsunami crisis struck -- more than 650 truckloads.


• However, WFP Country Director Jeff Taft-Dick warned that pre-existing high levels of undernourishment with the under
five-year old population, particularly in the north and east, will require continued extra care.
THE MALDIVES


• An interagency field assessment to Thaa and Laamu atolls, two of the three hardest hit island groups in the Maldives,
has reported that there are no immediate food needs in the area. However, according to atoll chiefs and other inhabitants,
there is a need for longer-term support as many islanders' previous livelihoods through fishing and agriculture have been
destroyed.















• The team, comprising representatives of WFP, UNDP, CARE and Oxfam-UK, reported that the immediate priority was the
reconstruction of houses, which would enable people to begin working again once they got their homes back.


• As part of the initial findings, a WFP Vulnerability Assessment Mapping mission reported the most vulnerable groups
include fishing and farming communities, and those with specialized manufacturing skills, who in many cases have lost their
tools and equipment.


• The logistics of transporting humanitarian aid in the Maldives remains a serious problem, as the population of 340,000
is dispersed over 200 islands. The Government of the Maldives and the UN Disaster Assessment Coordination group have sent out
a request for small vessels (50 to 100 ft) and landing craft, to be used for the shipment of small quantities of aid to
outlying islands. Several donor states have indicated an interest in providing them.


• WFP has volunteered to be the focal point for UN logistics in the Maldives. UN agencies are expecting an increased
amount of cargo to enter the country in the coming weeks.


MYANMAR


• Distribution of food through WFP's NGO partner ADRA began today in the Irrawaddy Delta today. Five tons of mung beans
were shipped to affected areas in the delta. WFP is giving, through the International Federation of the Red Cross, a 30-day
supply of rice,
pulses and oil to 3,220 people in an emergency response to the most affected. Later this week, distribution of the same
ration will begin to a total of 15,000 people for six months..


• WFP will participate in a multi-sector assessment mission to the Irrawaddy Delta and to the Kaw Thoung region of the
southern coast starting on Friday. The mission, which will include representatives of UNICEF, WHO, UNDP and FAO, will focus
on longer term impacts of the tsunami, with each organization investigating areas under their responsibility.


• A report by the mission is expected on January 24. This follows an earlier report by the Tsunami Assistance
Coordination Group which found that the government figures on the immediate impact of the tsunami in Myanmar were essentially
correct.


THAILAND


• After a review of the needs of vulnerable populations impacted by the tsunami in southern Thailand, WFP plans to extend
its food distribution to as many as 2,000 vulnerable families in the region from 15 to 120 days. Cooking oil will be added
to the currently planned distributions of canned fish and rice.


SOMALIA


• A major shipment of WFP food and other aid left Kenya for Somalia yesterday to aid victims of the tsunami disaster. The
MV Mama Selima sailed from Mombasa with 1,300 tons of rice, maize, cooking oil and fortified biscuits. It is expected to
arrive in Bossaso, on Somalia's northern coast, later this week.


• WFP has distributed food to 19,000 people since the tsunami struck Somalia. Up to 30,000 people are thought to have
been affected, and the new shipment will allow WFP to reach all of this target group.


• The hardest hit area in Somalia is a 500-kilometre stretch of coastline between Hafun district and the town of Gara'ad
in North Mudug region. Amongst those affected there are fishermen, people involved in salt collection and pastoralists.
Fishing equipment has been washed away or damaged, salt pans are flooded and pastures destroyed by tsunami waters.


• Security in the affected areas of Somalia remains a concern. WFP has no access to Hobyo, on the southern part of the
coast of Puntland, because of inter-clan fighting.


REGIONAL
• Three flights left from WFP's Humanitarian Air Hub in Subang Air Base in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The C-130s, on loan
from the Malaysian military and the Danish government, carried a total of 45 tons of fortified biscuits, bound for Banda
Aceh.


• WFP is continuing to empty its warehouse at the Asia Emergency Response Facility in Phnom Penh. Three more trucks were
flown to Colombo today, along with bleaching powder and two collapsible warehouses bound for the Maldives.


For more information please contact:


Greg Barrow, WFP London. Tel: 020 7592 9292, Mob: 07968 008474

e-mail: gregory.barrowwfp


Heather Hill, WFP Thailand Mob: +66 1701 9208, Mobile + 662 659
8690

email: heather.hillwfp


Michael Huggins, WFP Indonesia Mob: +62 811 864383, Thuraya: +881
6315 53604;
email: Michael.Hugginswfp


Bettina Luescher. WFP Indonesia (Banda Aceh) Tel: + 62 81210 44193


Gerald Bourke, WFP Indonesia (Banda Aceh) Tel: + 62 811 98 7360 or +
86 1380 1054051


Jordan Dey, WFP Sri Lanka. Tel: + 9411 2586244. email:

jordan.deywfp


Caroline Hurford, WFP Rome. Tel: + 3906 65132330. Mob: +
393481325018


Trevor Rowe, WFP New York. Mob: +1 646 8241112, office: +1 212 963
5196

email: roweun


Visit our website: wfp. To access WFP's up-to-the-minute
maps on the tsunami crisis, go to hewsweb. For
detailed information on air operations and other logistical activities, visit unjlc.