Already obliged for lack of funds to cut the number of displaced Chechens it supports and drastically reduce rations, WFP has warned that it will have to halt its Chechnya operation entirely in three months unless fresh pledges are made soon.
“From October, we will have absolutely nothing left to
Food aid is the number one priority for people who have lost everything
Koryun Alaverdyan, WFP’s Deputy Country Director in the Russian Federation
distribute,” said Koryun Alaverdyan, WFP’s Deputy Country Director in the Russian Federation.
“The people we seek to assist are the poorest survivors of the Chechen conflict.”
The UN agency has mobilised just 28 per cent of the US$22 million it needs to feed 250,000 Chechens during 2006.
They include 130,000 primary school children in Chechnya and 27,000 Chechens displaced by the conflict, living in the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia.
Cuts
Since the beginning of the year WFP has been able to provide only wheat flour, rather than the standard ration which also includes vegetable oil, sugar and salt.
This has deprived beneficiaries of vital calories and nutrients. In May, insufficient donations forced the agency to cut the number of displaced Chechens being assisted in Ingushetia from 27,000 to 16,000.
“Without outside help, these people will have to fend for themselves, which means resorting to measures such as selling what meagre assets they have left,” said Alaverdyan.
“That would make it even more difficult for them to start rebuilding their lives.”
Security precarious
The conflict in Chechnya, which began in September 1999, forced many people to flee into neighbouring regions, and a still precarious security situation has prevented most from returning home.
Of the 39,000 who have returned since 2004, many live in dire conditions, struggling to survive amidst the devastation, high unemployment and escalating poverty.
“Food aid is the number one priority for people who have lost everything,” said Alaverdyan. “It keeps them alive and provides a basis for starting anew.”
WFP projects in Chechnya
WFP provides food aid through soup kitchens for orphans, the disabled and the elderly in Grozny; the Chechen capital.
It also supports food-for-work projects, whereby participants are paid in food to rehabilitate agricultural and other infrastructure.
Other activities include food-for-training schemes to teach marketable skills to displaced Chechens, and food-for-education programmes for primary school children.