PRESS BRIEFING BY WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

12 July 1996

Press Briefing

19960712 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Since September, the Government of the Sudan had refused to allow the World Food Programme (WFP) to use its Hercules C-130 aircraft to make urgently needed airdrops of food in the south of the country, the Programme's Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, said at a press briefing yesterday afternoon. As a result, in Bahr El-Ghazal province more than 500,000 people were now seriously hungry, and an additional 200,000 people outside the province were also affected.

The situation was rapidly worsening, Ms. Bertini said. The WFP was seeing Sudanese children with the stick-like legs and bloated bellies indicative of serious malnutrition. "If this food shortage persists, there is a very real danger of gradual and widespread starvation", Ms. Bertini said -- even though WFP warehouses in Kenya were well-stocked with food. In addition, only one half to one third of the land normally cultivated had been planted for the August/September harvest because the people did not have enough nutrition to plant.

As a rule, in June, July and August local food stocks would be at their lowest and heavy rains would make overland travel virtually impossible, she said. The only means of delivering emergency food aid to many areas was by air, and in some areas the WFP planes could not land, so the food had to be dropped by air. The C-130s were the only WFP planes with the capacity for airdrops. The WFP normally had one C-130 in year-round operation and put a second one into service during the summer months.

For almost a year, the WFP, working with the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and with others, had been seeking a negotiated solution with the Sudanese Government. The Government's continued refusal to allow C-130s to be used in southern Sudan had forced the WFP to use smaller aircraft which were costlier and did not allow airdrops. As a result, only 22 per cent of the assessed food need was delivered during May and June. The target for the first six months of 1996 was to deliver 12,000 metric tons, but WFP had been able to deliver so far only 2,314.

Ms. Bertini said the Government of the Sudan had suspended the C-130 flights claiming that arms deliveries to rebels in the area had been made on a similar aircraft. The WFP had not been involved in any such activities, she said. "The WFP urgently appeals to the Government of the Sudan to allow the flights to resume without preconditions that would compromise WFP's neutrality. Hundreds of thousands of human lives are at stake."

Asked why the WFP was going public about the problem now, Ms. Bertini said it was because the negotiations had not produced any results and because of the danger of mass starvation.

A correspondent asked if there was any evidence of arms supplies being shipped in C-130s. The Executive Director said, "No, we could find no truth to the allegations that the Government has made."

Anthony Raby, of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, who was also present at the press conference, added: "The accusations were made in February 1995. They were then retracted by the Government because there was no proof whatsoever that the accusations were founded. That was admitted by the Government, which leaves open the question of why subsequently the plane was not allowed to fly. We have never received any answer to that question." To his knowledge there had been no WFP C-130 flights since June 1995, he added.

Asked if the Sudanese Government was trying to starve the people out, Ms. Bertini said, "No, they are afraid that these aircraft may be used for purposes that they don't think are appropriate."

Was the Government of the Sudan using food as a weapon? a correspondent. Ms. Bertini said, "It is becoming difficult to serve these people and they are in rebel-held territories."

Asked if the WFP had experiences with such tactics in other parts of the world, Ms. Bertini said the organization is usually able to find a way to get around potential problems, such as by using roads.

What would the United Nations do if that public appeal failed? she was asked. Ms. Bertini said, "We would continue to press for assistance."

Another correspondent asked if there had been any discussion with the Sudanese Government about its monitoring the C-130 aircraft to make sure they were not carrying arms? She said "yes", adding that there had also been discussion of posting the C-130s inside Sudan instead of in Kenya, but the donors would not allow that. They insisted that the planes remain independent. (The donors are Australia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and the United States.)

Asked why the donors, despite the impending starvation, would not bend on the posting of the C-130s, Ms. Bertini said it was a question of the ability of the WFP to fly the planes when they need to fly and where they need to fly.

WFP Briefing - 3 - 12 July 1996

Asked why the Government did not object to the smaller planes, she said, "My assumption is that they haven't had the potential problems that they suggest they have had with the larger planes."

Could the Sudanese Government's actions be characterized as heartless or cruel? she was asked. Ms. Bertini said, "When more and more children are dying because they have no resistance to diseases and other problems, then any decision not to allow food to reach them is cruel."

Asked if such a judgement might also apply to the donors' insistence on where the planes where posted, she said, "No, because the donors' insistence is a proper and normal insistence that we have an independent base from which to operate."

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