WFP interview on Al Jazeera - call for $13 million funding for food relief, particularly for Rakhine State

An interview recorded last week with WFP's Asia Spokesperson, Silke Buhr, makes reference to and shows some of the EU-funded operations in Myanmar.

More information from WFP:

TVEyes transcript

• WFP has been providing regular food assistance to displaced people in Rakhine state since the outbreak of communal violence in June 2012. Currently, WFP reaches 142,000 people per month in and around Sittwe.
• As well as displacement, local economies have broken down, so many people no longer have access to markets and jobs and are reliant on humanitarian assistance. The resettlement of displaced people seems unlikely in the near future and humanitarian needs will continue.
• WFP needs US$13 million to continue providing life-saving food assistance to displaced people in Rakhine over the next six months.

Operations

• Since July 2012, WFP has distributed almost 27,000 metric tons of food to displaced people in and around Sittwe.
• WFP’s monthly rations are made up of rice, pulses, cooking oil and salt.  In addition, nutritious blended food is distributed to pregnant women and nursing mothers and their young children, protecting them from malnutrition at a time of great vulnerability.
• WFP purchases 90 percent of the rice it distributes in Myanmar locally, providing local responses to local needs and stimulating local markets.
• WFP is working with partners in Sittwe town to start asset creation projects which will bring food and cash assistance to communities affected by the ongoing crisis but not actually displaced.
• Rakhine State is an extremely remote, undeveloped region, and some affected communities can only be reached by boat.

Thanks to generous contributions from donors including Japan, USA, Australia and the European Union, WFP has been able to respond swiftly to the current crisis. In order to keep providing life-saving food assistance to the displaced population in Rakhine over the next six months, WFP requires US$13 million

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Last year, WFP reached more than 97 million people in 80 countries with food assistance.

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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname [at] wfp.org):

Silke Buhr, Asia Regional Spokesperson, WFP/Bangkok.
Tel: +66 (0)2 6598 616 Mobile: +66 (0) 81 701 9208

Frances Kennedy, WFP/Rome
Tel: +39 06 6513 3725 Mob: +39 346 7600806