March 11, 2008
Bad Food Aid News in Darfur
A couple weeks ago, I blogged that efforts to distribute food to those who need it most are being thwarted by militia groups. Well, it seems that things just keep getting worse.
Yesterday, U.N. officials said it will have to cut emergency food aid in half due to an increase in bandit attacks on its delivery convoys in Darfur. These attacks come at a time when the U.N. World Food Programme is already extremely low on money, reports Reuters.
"Our humanitarian air operation for aid workers," said U.N. Sudan representative Kenro Oshidari in a statement, "could be forced to stop flying because we have no money, at a time when our helicopters and aircraft are needed more than ever because of high insecurity on the roads."
Unless more funding arrives, the WFP will have to close its humanitarian air service by the end of March. That will affect over 8,000 aid workers carrying emergency supplies each month.
The decline in food supplies is especially worrisome because demand for food is high right now, in the time leading up to the May-October rainy season.
- Posted by Suemedha Sood at 12:00PM on 03/11/08
- Comment Now
Sumedha Sood is a 2007 fellow in the Academy for Alternative Journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. The former assistant editor at the Center for American Progress, she is a frequent contributor to WireTap and AlterNet.org.
There are no comments posted yet. Post a comment now!