Distributions going ahead in buffer zone

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it has enough food for Eritreans returning to areas affected by the border dispute, including the recently established Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). WFP said in its emergency report that it had made enough provisions for feeding the internally displaced people (IDPs), whether they were inside or outside of the TSZ. Some 45,000 beneficiaries were already receiving WFP-supplied wheat inside the TSZ, distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The distributions would continue throughout May, WFP said.

In the report, issued in May, WFP said that Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) in the Anseba and Debub regions had confirmed that emergency food aid was successfully distributed, and there were no signs of malnutrition among the populations. Prior to the outbreak of war in 1998, Debub was one of the most agriculturally productive regions in Eritrea, but suffered huge displacement during the conflict.