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AS RAIN CUTS
OFF MORE THAN 150,000 SUDANESE, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME TURNS TO AIRDROPS, BY CAROLINE PATTON:
05/11/2009 (MaximsNewsNetwork)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews
Network
/ 05
November 2009 -As a result
of extensive wet weather, over 155,000 people in southern Sudan
have been isolated from the rest of the country and unable to be reached via
roads. As a result, the World Food Programme (WFP) last week began to drop food
to help them survive the confluence of ongoing violence, failed harvests, and
spiraling food costs.
Jonglei,
Upper Nile and Warrap, several of southern Sudan’s ten states, have faced low yields from
crops, adding to an existing food crisis
that has driven prices steadily upwards.
Now
high levels of rainfall have made travel
impossible. This is a common problem for
these states where good roads are rare and
the rainy season renders them unusable from
April to December. Clashes in the region
have contributed as well to making road
impassible.
Yet,
people in these areas are dependent on
international organizations for food to keep
them going through the winter. The
agency’s director for Sudan, Amer Daoudi explained, “We can’t wait
for food prices to drop or the roads to be
passable again…Airdrops are the only way
for us to reach them.”
The
use of planes to deliver food is planned to
be ongoing through the rest of the rainy
season and into January. So far around 4,000
tons of food have been dropped. Each of the
planes chartered by WFP can carry 36 tons.
Throughout Jonglei, Upper Nile and Warrap
states a total of 22 drop sites have been
designated and personnel ready to retrieve
and give out the food when it lands.
However,
transporting food in this manner is more
costly than using other methods and the WFP
has called for $44 million in donations to
fund the purchase 22,000 tons of food, half
of which will be distributed using the
airdrops and half with vehicles and boats.
This will be enough for around 300,000
Sudanese.
Mr.
Daoudi made clear that the “need is so
immense that we need to use all our
resources to feed so many people facing food
shortages.” The WFP has $14.5 million so
far.
Further,
Sudan is dealing with the demobilization of
tens of thousands of soldiers who took part
in the civil war that long divided the
country before the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) was signed four years ago.
This year more than 15,000 have completed
the process but the government hopes that a
total of 180,000 will eventually be
reintegrated through the program.
Ban
Ki-Moon’s General’s Special
Representative for Sudan Ashraf Jehangir
Qazi indicated that, “The momentum built
up thus far is impressive and continues to
grow as new sites will become operational in
the Three Areas and
Southern Sudan
.”
He
added that the program
“has given hope to ex-combatants and their
communities as they see something concrete
being done to promote peace.”
-By
Caroline
Patton
Twitter/MaximsNews:
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