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Official statements announcing key developments in WFP operations and activities.
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15 April 2005

Acute water shortages put nearly 250,000 more Eritreans at risk

Asmara In Eritrea, where five successive years of inadequate rainfall have led to two-thirds of the population relying almost entirely on food assistance for survival, WFP has responded to increasing needs by revising and extending its emergency operation.

14 April 2005

New contribution assures Japan's continued support to Tajikistan

Dushanbe - WFP welcomes a cash contribution of US$950,000 (JPY100 million) from the Japanese Government to assist vulnerable and food insecure households in Tajikistan.

14 April 2005

WFP launches 'Food Force' the first 'humanitarian' video game

Bologna, Italy A plane circles over a crisis zone. War. Drought. People are hungry. The aircraft goes into a steep climb before launching its first airdrop of food aid. A truck struggles up a muddy, treacherous road, and rebels loom. People are anxious, waiting and food is scarce. This is the virtual world of "Food Force". Not an action film, but the first humanitarian video game about global hunger unveiled today by WFP at the International Children\'s Book Fair in Bologna, Italy.

13 April 2005

Sydney 2000 Rowing Triumph: Britain's greatest Olympic rowers back together for The National Lottery Legends Sprint

London - Great Britain\'s most successful rowers are reuniting on the water to race together one last time, in a recreation of the historic "Redgrave 5th Gold" Sydney 2000 race, to raise money for children in areas affected by December\'s tsunami earthquake disaster.

10 April 2005

S. Africa donates to UN agencies for region's hungry

WFP and FAO welcome an extremely generous 140 million rand (US$21.5 million) contribution from the Republic of South Africa to the agencies’ operations in southern Africa.

8 April 2005

Turkey becomes major donor for food crises in West Africa

Ankara - WFP welcomes a cash donation of US$1.8 million from the Republic of Turkey which will go to assist the agency\'s operations in Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

7 April 2005

Hijacking of relief food vessel to Somalia forces WFP to suspend further shipments

Nairobi - WFP has suspended all shipments of humanitarian assistance to Somalia in the wake of the hijacking of a WFP-chartered vessel carrying food aid for 28,000 tsunami survivors.

5 April 2005

WFP sounds alert as world food aid plummets by 30 percent in 2004

Rome WFP releases global food aid figures for 2004 which paint a depressing picture for hundreds of millions of malnourished people. Total food aid delivered from all sources slid from 10.3 million tons in 2003 all the way down to 7.5 million tons in 2004.

4 April 2005

100 days after the tsunami, the number of natural disaster victims grows

Bangkok - One hundred days after the 26 December tsunami ripped through the Indian Ocean, WFP is back in emergency mode to get urgently needed relief to more than 200,000 victims of Indonesia\'s latest earthquake.

3 April 2005