1000s Malnourished Liberians Threatened By Famine

Thousands Of Malnourished Liberians Threatened With Famine By December - UN

More than 300,000 Liberians will be threatened by famine and thousands more waiting for repatriation will be unable to return to the post-conflict West African country from neighbouring countries unless the United Nations refugee agency and emergency food aid programme receive more than $30 million in additional funding, the two said today.

With one in six Liberians dependent on international food assistance, including 10,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at a camp in the capital, Monrovia, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it needs another $11 million to buy food for the rest of the year.

>From 30 June to 6 July, WFP distributed some 2,725 tons of commodities to over 63,625 IDPs, and 1,950 returnees. The agency also distributed 1,327 tons of commodities to about 267,220 children in 710 schools through the school feeding programme.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR) said it faced a $23 million shortfall for its repatriation programme, which was expected to start next October and end in December 2006.

Awaiting help are 300,000 refugees in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria, it said.

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