Southern Africa
WFP EMERGENCY OPERATION CONTINUES

WFP is extremely grateful to the international community for supporting its Southern Africa regional appeal over the past nine months.

Thanks to donor contributions of over US$390 million to EMOP 102.00, the agency has been able to help more than 10 million people in need and avert famine across the region.

But the need for help is far from over. Some 15 million people are facing food insecurity in a part of the world already afflicted by widespread poverty.

Poor harvests are continuing with the current outlook for Zimbabwe particularly bleak. The impact of HIV/AIDS in the region has been devastating: countries are witnessing a decline in the number of healthy adults in the workforce and an increase in the number of families headec by children.

Hunger means that many people infected by HIV/AIDS face an acceleration of the disease.

This month, WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will start food and crop assessments to quantify the needs for the remainder of 2003.

WFP's emergency operation has been extended until June 30 to allow time for a new operation to cover the remainder of the year. This budget revision will bring the total cost of EMOP 102.00
to US$512 million.

The international donor community's help in raising an additional US$120 million is vital to feeding WFP's beneficiaries in Southern Africa over the next three months.