WFP transports food by train for Angolan refugees

WFP yesterday dispatched 170 mt of emergency food aid by train from Lubumbashi for some 30,000 Angolan refugees in the Kisenge area of Katanga province. In a statement received by IRIN today, WFP said the food was expected to arrive at three refugee camps around Kisenge in three days and will be sufficient for at least two weeks. UNHCR last week reported that the global malnutrition rate in the Kisenge camps was 24 percent, with 12 percent severe malnutrition. Up to now, WFP had been unable to start delivery and distribution of food aid to the Kisenge camps because of poor security conditions, a shortage of funds and logistical constraints, the statement said. WFP is purchasing 1,900 mt of food aid from neighbouring Zambia for the refugee operation, the statement said, adding that WFP had appealed for additional donor funding for the operation. WFP is already supplying relief assistance to another 10,000 Angolan refugees in Bandundu and Bas-Congo provinces.