WFP’s emergency mission to end next month

With Israel’s lifting of its air and sea blockade on Lebanon on Thursday, the emergency phase of the country’s humanitarian crisis will soon come to an end, according to James Morris, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Speaking at a press conference in the UN house in Beirut, Morris welcomed the Israeli announcement of lifting the blockade. “This is a very good, symbolical step”, he said, “Once commercial activities return to normal, we will be able to wind up our operations. We do not want to stay longer than the necessary.”

Morris told reporters that he expected WFP’s emergency work in the country to come to conclusion by the end of October.

He added, however, that over the coming few weeks many Lebanese would still need food aid so that “their resources and energies can be devoted to the numerous other issues they face while recovering from this crisis”.

One such issue Morris mentioned was the danger of unexploded ordnance scattered throughout southern areas of Lebanon. He said these were hampering the humanitarian efforts of UN organisations and NGOs working on the ground.

“There is a huge amount of these materials in the south, which may pose problems for a long time, and that is an issue of main concern,” he said. “This represents a huge challenge for the government.”

The WFP has brought food aid to more than 700,000 people in Lebanon since the start of its emergency operation in July, Morris said. It is now targeting some 350,000 of the worst affected people in the country, the majority of whom live in the south.

Morris travelled to the south on Thursday to see the impact of the war for himself, and said he was encouraged by the people’s strength.

“Having followed the conflict day by day, I was determined to come to Lebanon and see for myself what people have gone through,” he said. “I’m encouraged by people’s strength and resilience and confident that the Lebanese people will overcome this latest ordeal.”

MF/ED