WFP regional office opened, Bertini urges more aid to region

The executive director of the World Food Programme, Catherine Bertini, on Friday urged the international community to continue to provide humanitarian aid to West Africa, where years of war have affected the lives of thousands of people. Speaking during the opening of WFP's new regional office in Dakar, Senegal, Bertini said that in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "the survival of thousands of victims depends on international assistance". She urged donors to fund WFP's operations, particularly in the three countries where US $56 million is needed to carry out programmes this year. The international community also needs to assist affected populations in restarting their lives, as well as rebuild destroyed infrastructures, she said. WFP says its food assistance targets more than four million people in the region. The agency is also involved in HIV/AIDS, school feeding programmes and rural development. Along with Cameroon and Uganda, Senegal is one of the UN agency's new African regional offices. The new office, previously located in Cote d'Ivoire, will cover operations in Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The 27 February to 1 March visit was Bertini's last official visit in the region as head of WFP, since 1992. Next month, she will be replaced by an American, James Morris.