UNHRD in Ghana sends relief items to Haiti victims

Accra, Feb. 4, GNA - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) o= n Thursday said its UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Ghana had airlifted 150 metric tons of urgently needed relief items to victims of t= he Haiti earthquake.

A statement issued by the WFP in Accra said two airlifts were involv= ed. The first aircraft carried prefabricated structures for office and living accommodation and mobile warehousing, at the request of the Un Development Programme Office in Haiti. The second aircraft transported water tanks, jerry cans, blankets, mosquito nets and kitchen sets, at the request of Irish Aid, the Irish Government's development assistance programme.

The statement said the UNHRD in Accra had also dispatched two of it= s Ghanaian staff members to help with the erection of prefabricated units a= nd warehouse management in Haiti. "UNHRD Accra was called upon to assist the Haiti disaster victims after other deports in Panama and Brindisi ran out of stocks," Mr. Martin=

Walsh, Depot Manager said. Mr. Ismail Omer, WFP Representative in Ghana said:" this is the fir= st time the Accra deport has airlifted items to a country outside Africa sin= ce it began operations in 2007. To date, we have responded to emergencies in= 17 African countries including Ghana. We're happy to help Haiti at a critica= l time like this".

The Accra depot is part of WFP's global network of five depots, abl= e to deliver humanitarian relief items worldwide within 24 to 48 hours. It is strategically located to speed up emergency response to humanitarian disasters in parts of Africa. It provides storage, logistics=

support and services to the broader humanitarian community including UN agencies, international humanitarian relief organizations and governmenta= l and non-governmental organizations, reducing both the response time and t= he costs for organizations using the facility. WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. In 2010, WFP aims to feed 90 million people in 73 countries. 4 Feb. 10