WFP food shipment arrives in Vanni

500 metric tonnes of mixed food commodities:

The World Food Program’s second major relief food consignment of 500 metric tonnes of mixed food commodities (rice, wheat, flour, lentils, sugar and vegetable oil) reached Puthumathalan, the Government designated ‘safe zone’ along the Northeastern coast of Mullaitivu, on a Government arranged ship sailing under ICRC flag.

The food sent to the area will be sufficient to feed around 100,000 Internally Displaced Persons for a period of 10 days.

Earlier, nearly 160 metric tonnes of mixed food was sent through smaller boats on multiple occasions, while on March 7, the first large consignment by sea of 500 metric tonnes was dispatched to the conflict zone after road convoys were discontinued in late January 2009.

WFP also extends its food assistance to meet the needs of more than 37,000 displaced persons who have fled the conflict zone and are accommodated in transit camps/welfare villages in Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya.

WFP, in collaboration with Government and other stakeholders, supports the ‘communal cooking’ intervention that is currently organized in the IDP centres. WFP is assisting the Government of Sri Lanka in feeding 1.2 million people through the emergency feeding and recovery programs including food-for-education, food-for-work and mother-and-child health and nutrition.