WFP distributing over 83,500 tons of relief food to drought-affected citizens

  Addis Ababa, 16 June (ENA)--The World Food Program (WFP) representative and country director says her organization is distributing over 83,500 tons of relief food among 2.5 million drought-hit people in Ethiopia.

  In an exclusive interview with ENA on Friday Judith Lewis said the consignment was valued at over 36.1 million U.S dollars.

  The relief constituted 41 percent of the 206,000 tons of food assistance WFP appealed to donor countries for the year 2001, Lewis has said.

  She said 78,000 tons of the food aid was secured from the U.S government.

  Other major donor countries included, among others, Australia, France, Canada, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Denmark, the country director said.

  She said WFP had distributed 490,000 tons of food aid worth about 220 million U.S dollars among 5.7 million drought-stricken compatriots in Ethiopia last year.

 Lewis said WFP's areas of intervention in Ethiopia focused on rural and urban rehabilitation as well as school feeding.

  The organization's interventions mainly target the most food insecure parts of the country and the poorest community, the country director said.

  She said WFP was also apportioning 68,000 tons of relief food among 465,000 recipients through food-for-work program.

  Close to 58,000 needy people benefit from WFP's urban project in Addis Ababa, according to Lewis.

   She said WFP has been providing 30,000 tons of relief food to recipients under its school feeding projects launched at about 400 schools in food-insecure parts of the country.

  WFP has been also closely working with the Ethiopian government in rehabilitating Somali and Sudanese refugees hosted by Ethiopia, Lewis said.

  She said her organization had offered 60,000 tons of food aid to war-displaced citizens last year.

  Lewis described the Ethiopian government's cooperation with WFP as " open, strong and encouraging".  

 (END)