World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The continuing conflict, breakdown in the infrastructure and shortage in fuel and cash are causing serious problems for Libya's population, the UN emergency relief coordinator informed the UN Security Council on Monday. (..) The World Food Programme and relief organizations are contributing to the humanitarian operations in Libya as food, water and other supplies are running low, she said.

Libya's food supplies could run out within six to eight weeks unless plans are put in place to avoid a full-scale humanitarian crisis, the head of the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday. Supply concerns are particularly acute in the rebel-held east of the country, where the interim authorities are struggling to buy and distribute food, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in an interview.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday urged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to allow international organizations to "provide relief and evacuation services" to civilians stranded in Libyan western city of Misrata. (..) The World Food Program (WFP) on Thursday warned that Libya is at risk of a full-blown food security crisis within the next 45 to 60 days.

The United States announced Thursday that it would try to release some of the more than $30 billion in assets seized from Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, as international officials said they would create a fund to give money directly to the Libyan rebels. (..) The World Food Program said Thursday that the country could run out of food in six to eight weeks, as the government-run distribution system crumbles.

More than 8,000 people -- most of them women and children -- fled into Tunisia during the weekend to escape fighting between Libyan government troops and opposition forces, the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees said Tuesday. (..) UNHCR, and partners, including the World Food Programme and other agencies, are planning to distribute food and relief items to the refugees and their host families.

The exodus from Libya's Western Mountains region into Tunisia has resumed after a brief interruption last week caused by skirmishes between Libyan government and opposition forces. (..) UNHCR, and partners including the World Food Programme and other agencies are planning to distribute food and other aid to the refugees and their host families.

Libya will suffer a large-scale food crisis within two months unless stocks are replenished and distribution networks are supported, the UN has said. The World Food Programme (WFP) said current stocks may last only 45 to 60 days after which many people will be forced to cut back on meals. WFP's regional director for the Middle East and north Africa said rising fuel prices and lack of hard currency are making it hard for Libya to import food.

Some 2,000 foreigners remain in the western Libyan port town of Misrata still hoping to be evacuated, US officials said Monday.(..)Some of that shipment has been distributed, Bartolini said, but the bulk of the aid is being pre-positioned for distribution in Libya by the World Food Program (WFP).

International aid groups are rotating doctors into the besieged Libyan city of Misrata and evacuating migrant workers as fighting rages between rebels and pro-government forces, U.S. officials said on Monday.(..)Bartolini said a large U.S. shipment to the World Food Program consisting of 560 metric tons of vegetable oil and 270 metric tons of pinto beans had arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, and that more would follow.

The western Nafusa Mountains of Libya, which run along the breadth of half the country to the Tunisian border and are home for hundreds of thousands of people, are dangerously cut off from aid and essential basic supplies, threatening a serious humanitarian crisis that has been getting a lot less attention than the situation in the beseiged port city of Misrata.(..)Greg Barrow from the WFP told Channel 4 News the extent of the aid demands caused by the situation in Libya: "I think you've got to take on board the fact that Libya is not self sufficient, it needs to import it's food, have movement of food supplies along open routes and this conflict has impacted on this in a serious way."