PRESS BRIEFING BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

A new emergency operation for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea would enable the World Food Programme (WFP) to reach another 1.1 million children between the ages of 11 and 17, as well as 25 per cent of the elderly population in that country, the WFP Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, said today at a Headquarters press briefing.

A continuation of a programme begun in 1995, the new operation would be a $260 million programme for 285,000 tonnes of food, Ms. Bertini said. Some of the additional reach would result from the introduction of high-protein biscuits to children and the elderly, the two groups most vulnerable in situations of food insecurity, particularly when there was not enough to eat and people became very hungry. The WFP programme, begun in 1995, had been reaching children in primary schools with kindergartens or nurseries since those schools had kitchens -- the WFP sent in the food that gave those children a hot meal in the kitchens.

Now, the WFP would expand on that programme by sending in high-protein biscuits, Ms. Bertini said. That would enable the WFP to reach older children, who could eat those biscuits in the schools and receive that extra sustenance. In the same way, the WFP would be attempting to reach 500,000 people over the age of 60 -- some of them very vulnerable -- whether living alone or with families.

Ms. Bertini said that the WFP, along with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), had continued crop assessment missions, which continued to show that even with a relatively good harvest, there was not enough food in the country to sustain all the people who needed it. That was the reason for the ongoing WFP effort to support the hungry people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and why the WFP continued to ask the international community for food assistance for the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The WFP there now consisted of 46 staff members, including the international staff and the local staff involved in distribution. The WFP monitored the distribution to assure donors that the food aid given through the WFP was going to those identified as the right recipients.

In addition to the new project in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ms. Bertini said that the WFP was involved in two other issues of current interest. She herself had returned just last week from Albania and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where the WFP was coordinating the food-aid distribution efforts to refugees in those countries, working with many non-governmental organization (NGO) partners as well as with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"I do want to emphasize that there is food, not only there but in the pipeline on the way there. So there is no chance that we will run out of food

WFP Briefing - 2 - 23 April 1999

to serve the people whom we're serving", Ms. Bertini said. However, she added, the food being served up until now has been ready-to-eat food. The loaves of bread seen across the media has been bread baked in local bakeries with wheat flour sent in by the WFP. People in Albania had expanded their bakery production by five- to ten-fold, depending on the bakery, with the wheat flour coming in from the WFP and the bread then distributed to the refugees.

The WFP had also distributed other items such as fish and humanitarian ready-to-eat meals, Ms. Bertini said. However, the WFP was now working with NGOs to put into position more mobile bakeries and more kitchens so that the WFP could begin providing more hot meals to the refugees living in camps.

In Liberia, Ms. Bertini said, the WFP had been in a very difficult situation regarding its own staff members and those of the UNHCR, as well as investors and other government and NGO representatives travelling with the WFP. "They did wake people at three in the morning and they did take everything except, literally, the clothes on their back, including what was in the houses, and the vehicles. But they finally let them leave and we were able to get them out by helicopter one day later. But it does show a problem for all of us in terms of providing long-term assistance in Liberia itself."

Asked to physically describe the high-protein biscuits, Ms. Bertini said she would have some brought in for tasting. The biscuits themselves were fairly dense and required a lot of water. On first distributing the biscuits in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the WFP had been told to hold off until more drinking water was available, but now with adequate drinking water there, the biscuits were being distributed. They had a "cakey" dense property and were high in protein, vitamins and minerals. They were a minimum of 100 grams and 450 calories, supplying 50 to 75 per cent of the daily adult requirements, and thus were particularly good for children.

In addition to the high-energy biscuits, Ms. Bertini continued, the WFP distributed three other forms of food aid. One was a fortified biscuit. Another was in the form of humanitarian daily rations, developed by the United States Department of Defense specifically for humanitarian programmes. It was a package that provided one day's portion of what a civilian population would eat. It was not a meal to eat at one time, but rather to save for the whole day. "We'll bring one in so you can see what it looks like", she said. The third form of food aid was the traditional Meals Ready to Eat, which were the basic fare of the armed forces. Each nation's force had its own menu, with the French one being different from an American, and so on. The Meals Ready to Eat were in short supply, as compared to the million humanitarian daily rations distributed to refugees between Albania and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Asked whether the humanitarian daily rations were tasty, Ms. Bertini said they were vegetarian, containing no substances such as pork. Rather, they contained foods such as rice, beans, jelly, cakes, fish and peanut butter. "And yes, they can sustain people for a while, no problem."

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