UN supports flood victims

Accra, Sept. 21, GNA - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said it had sent a consignment of high energy biscuits from its UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRS) in Accra to support victims of the recent floods in the northern parts of the country. A statement issued by the WFP in Accra said an initial consignment of 25 metric tones of the biscuits had been dispatched to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture's central warehouse in Tamale for distribution to 25,000 of the most vulnerable and food insecure victims.

Floods that hit the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions have affected more than 250,000 people.


According to the statement, this was the first time since the establishment of WFP in December 2006 that the Accra Humanitarian Response Depot (HRD) had presented items for use in Ghana. Mr Eugene Ndianabo, UNHRD Manager, said: "For the sixth time in less than one year, we are witnessing some positive results of the establishment of the Accra UNHRD - a reduction in delivery time and operating cost of humanitarian assistance in West Africa."


WFP and UNHRD, the statement said, were part of a joint assessment mission comprising government agencies, United Nations systems and non-governmental organisations that toured the three regions.

To date, the Accra Depot has dispatched 131 metric tones of emergency food and non-food items for assistance in natural and man-made disasters in West Africa.


WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency that gives food to an average 90 million poor to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries.