World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

A woman and her baby were among the displaced people receiving food aid from the World Food Program.

Assurances from authorities in Kinshasa that peace had been restored to their home areas in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo carry little weight with thousands of refugees across the Ubangi River in the Central African Republic (CAR): they are in no hurry to return home. “We fled because we had seen soldiers wounded, houses burned, women raped,” says Charles Banganya, a refugee waiting for a World Food Programme (WFP) aid distribution in Zinga.

The number of Democratic Republic of Congo nationals who have fled to the Central African Republic "could reach up to 18 000"(..). The UN World Food Programme plans to send 520 tonnes (520 000 kilograms) of food supplies over the next two months. "We are going to alert the other agencies (in the United Nations) to provide adequate aid for these people in need", regional director of the UN's World Food Programme Thomas Yanga said on a visit to the Central African Republic.

The U.N. refugee agency is busy dealing with a flood of refugees leaving the Democratic Republic of Congo.(..)The U.N. World Food Program is distributing food to the refugees, while UNHCR is handing out non-food items, such as blankets, utensils, shelter material, etc.

The United Nations is rushing food to thousands of displaced Congolese in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where tribal clashes have driven 130,000 people from their homes. “Because of ongoing clashes in the area where these people live, it has been difficult to get food assistance to those who need it most,” UN World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director Abdou Dieng said, noting that the food distributions would be widened if security conditions improved.

The more than 800 small-scale farmers belonging to co-operatives around the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) capital, Kinshasa, could produce enough rice and vegetables for the capital's estimated eight million inhabitants, according to the country's agriculture ministry.
However the farmers say they cannot effectively work the land without any long-term prospects or stability. The land is being steadily being taken away from them and sold off for new construction, especially in Mimoza, Maluku, Mpasa, Bandalungwa, N'Sele and Kingabwa, which are rural areas around the capital.

The inter-community conflicts which are going on in South-Ubangi district, Equator province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have already affected 55 villages in five territories, leading to 70,000 people internally displaced and approximately 77,000 externally displaced (..) The World Food Program (WFP) and other UN aid agencies are already to distribute assistance to the internally displaced persons but the recent worsening of the security situation in the country does not favor commencement of aid distribution. The people who are in the affected areas are likely to move again.

Raging ethnic violence in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo has now driven 115,000 people from their homes and forced aid agencies to put their work in the region on hold. (..) The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said it had put on hold its plan to deliver food to the displaced in Equateur province because of insecurity. "WFP asks all actors in the area to facilitate humanitarian deliveries to help those in need," a WFP spokeswoman said.

No matter how often you hear stories and feel prepared for what you will see you are never ready for what is almost the fourth world.(..)The World Food Program and UNESCO are organizations that I saw provide great help in the Congo.

The United Nations' World Food Programme next week will start distributing food aid to more than 50,000 people driven out of their homes by ethnic violence in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo. (..) "This is another serious humanitarian situation in Congo which must be tackled," Stephanie Savariaud, a WFP spokeswoman in Kinshasa told AlertNet.