Relief food for Malanje

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) started distributing 240 mt of relief food to the besieged city of Malanje last week, WFP officials told IRIN on Wednesday, pointing out that many of the city's residents and displaced alike face starvation. "This is the first delivery of relief to Malanje since the end of May and the food was given to non-governmental organisations for immediate distribution to child centres and a local hospital," WFP officials said, adding that the agency plans to transport a further 2,200 mt of food to the city throughout August. Francesco Strippoli, WFP's representative in Angola, who led a WFP delegation to the city last week, said on his return: "I was devastated by what I saw. Thousands of children are suffering from malnutrition and their parents are no better off." Strippoli added: "If we want to avert mass starvation, the food has to be sent there. However, the security situation is still bad, both on the road and in the city." Malanje, like several other Angolan cities, has been under continuous attack by UNITA rebel forces in recent months, making it impossible to deliver food relief either by road or air, WFP officials said. The officials added that in Huambo, Angola's second largest city, the 400,000 inhabitants also face the threat of starvation as food supplies delivered by a shaky air bridge are only sufficient to feed the most vulnerable. "With people's coping mechanisms exhausted, there is little difference in nutrition levels between residents and the displaced," an agency official said.