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Airlift of hi-energy
biscuits signals start of WFP's emergency response to last
Friday's earthquake in Bam.
Tehran, 29 December
2003 - WFP is sending high energy biscuits to the
tens of thousands of quake victims left destitute and hungry
by the devastating earthquake which hit Bam in southeast Iran
last week.
As part of an immediate response, the Agency is tapping into
its emergency funds to finance a first airlift of 40 metric
tons of nutritional biscuits.
A WFP-chartered aircraft loaded with the cargo is scheduled
to take-off from the United Nations Humanitarian Response
Depot in Brindisi, Italy on December 30.
This will follow an initial airlift of humanitarian goods
donated by the German, Italian and Norwegian goverments, which
left Brindisi for Kerman airport today. Coordinated by WFP
Tehran, this Airbus 300's cargo includes blankets, emergency
kits, water purification units and jerry cans.
RED CRESCENT
By providing timely sustenance
to those people who are suffering this
terrible disaster,
WFP is helping to
build up their
strength to cope in extremely harsh conditions of cold
and deprivation
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Marius de
Gaay Fortman,
WFP representative in Iran |
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The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) will distribute the
WFP biscuits immediately as a complementary ration to the
canned food and bread already being handed out to the earthquake
victims.
IRCS, a WFP implementing partner, provided the first local
emergency assistance in the wake of the earthquake.
The high energy biscuits are part of a larger consignment
of 144 tons, which will cover part of the food requirements
of the estimated 120,000 affected people in Bam and the surrounding
area for the next 12 days (see sidebox for details of assessment
mission).
The biscuits, which provide each person with 450 kilocalories,
are especially useful to stave off hunger in the immediate
aftermath of a disaster, when people are unable to obtain
food, let-alone prepare it.
The remainder of the biscuit consignment will be made up
of biscuits originally donated by the Indian Government to
WFP school feeding projects in Afghanistan.
INDIAN DONATION
By chance, the Indian donation is currently stored in the
Iranian port of Bandar-Abbas, just 500 kilometres away from
Kerman, awaiting shipment to Afghanistan; the Indian government
has generously agreed for WFP to divert a portion of these
biscuits to Bam.
The Indian Government has also offered further assistance
from a larger quantity of biscuit stock currently in the Iranian
port.
"By providing timely sustenance to those people who
are suffering this terrible disaster, WFP is helping to build
up their strength to cope in extremely harsh conditions of
cold and deprivation," said Marius de Gaay Fortman, WFP's
Representative in Iran.
"Since this country has assisted many refugees over
the years, it is gratifying for WFP to be able to assist the
people of Iran through this crisis," added de Gaay Fortman.
| WFP
in Iran: background |
WFP's first-ever emergency operation was to assist victims
of the 1962 earthquake in the area of Boein Zahra, Iran.
This operation launched WFP's life-saving work among the
hungry poor over the last four decades
The Agency is presently providing relief assistance to
more than 60,000 Afghan, Iraqi Arab and Kurdish refugees
in 29 camps. The aim is to boost the refugees' readiness
for their return to Afghanistan and Iraq
WFP's assistance to refugees in Iran amounts to US$16
million for a two-year period, and includes support for
the refugees' education outside the camps, particularly
in Sistan-Baluchistan, which is the most food insecure
province with the highest number of refugees per inhabitant
Over the past two years, WFP's Iran Country Office
has been coordinating the shipment of about 150,000
metric tons of food commodities through the country
to Afghanistan
During the Iraq crisis, when WFP was requested to organise
the distribution of food to the entire Iraqi population,
a total of 80,000 metric tons of food commodities were
transported from Iran.
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December
29, 2003: Press Release 
