WFP Steps Up Food Deliveries In Somalia; Warns Of Growing Piracy

The United Nations World Food Programme said a second round of
food distributions started today to 122,500 people either driven
from
Mogadishu or who had recently returned but warned that a new spate
of
piracy threatened to strangle WFP's main supply routes to Somalia.



"We are expanding our distributions to the displaced - many of whom
are
women and children - with this round of distributions, which means
WFP
should be reaching 80 percent of the 150,000 we plan to feed," said
Peter
Goossens, WFP Somalia Country Director in Nairobi.



"But just when we are reaching more people, incidents of piracy
against
ships off Somalia are again on the rise and are threatening to cut
the
fastest and most efficient way - by sea - to move large amounts of
food
assistance to the needy in Somalia during this crisis," he said.



"In the hope of enriching themselves, these pirates are very
cruelly
playing with the lives of the most vulnerable women and children who had
to
leave their homes because of fighting. We appeal to the Somali
authorities
to act to stop these pirates before they cause more misery both to
the
crews of hijacked ships and to the people who rely on WFP food for
their
survival," Goossens added.



Food distributions began on Friday to 30,000 displaced in Merka, south
of
Mogadishu. In the coming days, WFP food will also reach 25,000 people
in
Mogadishu, 13,000 in Baidoa to the northwest, 32,000 near Afgoye west
of
the capital, 13,500 in Brava and 9,000 in Qoryoley district southwest
of
the capital.



WFP in late April and early May distributed food to 114,000
displaced
people and returnees. The latest distributions to a total of 122,500
people
include 22,000 people who did not receive food in the last round. Some
of
those fed in early May only required a single two-week ration.



The United Nations estimates that between 300,000 and 400,000 people
fled
Mogadishu since 1 February. The International Committee of the Red
Cross
and the non-governmental organisation CARE are also feeding
substantial
numbers of the displaced from Mogadishu.



Pirates have hijacked at least five ships off Somalia this year,
including
two in the past week alone. Several unsuccessful attacks have also
been
recently reported. In 2005, a similar spate of piracy in Somali
waters,
including the hijacking of two WFP-chartered vessels, forced the agency
to
suspend all deliveries of food assistance by sea to Somalia for weeks.
v

In 2007, WFP plans to assist 1 million people across Somalia,
including
800,000 in the southern and central regions. Those in the south and
centre
include the 150,000 newly displaced by the recent fighting in
Mogadishu.
This effort is expected to cost an additional US$10 million.




WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: on average, each year, we
give food to 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 58 million hungry children, in 80 of the world's poorest
countries. WFP - We Feed People.


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