WFP distributes food to returnees

The World Food Programme (WFP) began on Monday to distribute three-months' rations to 1,919 former Central African Republic (CAR) refugees who recently returned from the Republic of Congo (ROC) and Cameroon, WFP representative David Bulman told IRIN. "This group is among the most vulnerable as the relatives don't have resources to help them," Bulman said, adding that the rations included maize flour, beans, vegetable oil and salt. WFP food is being distributed by a Christian women's association, the Reseau des Femmes Mediatrices de la Paix, and only women are allowed to report to the distribution site. "Women distribute food to women to make the operation more peaceful," Bulman said. Agnes Engo, a 70-year-old mother of three, reported at Sapeke Church in the capital, Bangui, to receive her family's rations. She and her children fled the CAR in June for Betou in northern ROC and then for the capital, Brazzaville. They returned to Bangui in July aboard an aircraft charted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "We have never received any assistance," Engo told IRIN on Monday. Since Francois Bozize overthrew former president Ange-Felix Patasse on 15 March, CAR refugees, mostly from the Yakoma ethnic group of another former leader, Andre Kolingba, have started returning home from neighbouring countries. They had fled in June 2001 after Kolingba attempted a coup against Patasse. Bulman also said WFP was continuing an operation begun in August to feed schoolchildren affected by internal conflict. In the provinces of Ouham, Ouham Pende, Nana Grebizi and Kemo - areas much affected by six months of fighting which preceeded Bozize's coup - the 2003-2004 school year started on 15 December, three months later than other provinces. Bulman said 100,000 schoolchildren would receive food for three months, and that the operation was helped by the fact that more school warehouses had been repaired. During the war, doors and windows from school buildings were stolen or broken, making it impossible to keep food safely in the warehouses. Bulman said a campaign by WFP and government officials, helped by rural radios, had targeted schools, local officials and parents. Bulman said WFP received US $920,000 from the US government on 3 December for its Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations. He said the funds would enable the agency to assist internally displaced families, former refugees who returned home, schoolchildren in war-affected areas and HIV-infected or affected people.