WFP in urgent appeal for drought victims

The World Food Programme launched an urgent appeal for US $7.5 million on Tuesday for 250,000 Mauritanians most affected by drought, the agency reported. The UN agency said the money was needed to provide 16,000 mt of aid. It reported that 70,000 of the victims would, from 1 April to 30 September, be rationed with rice, beans, and vegetable oil. Then, the remaining victims will be supplied with simple cereal rations from June to September. These people live in the Aleg Plateau, the Senegal River valley and south of the two Hodhs. WFP and the Mauritanian Food Security Commission (Commissariat a la Securite Alimentaire) are coordinating the emergency food aid. Victims of the drought are in addition to those who lost their homes to torrential rains in January. WFP is providing Mauritania $22 million and 30,000 mt of aid over five years, under its current budget. A WFP delegation will visit Mauritania in April to review the country's needs for rural development and food security, education and health, from 2003 through 2008.