WFP HAILS DONATION FROM HUNGARY FOR SRI LANKA TSUNAMI SURVIVORS

(Reissued as received.)

COLOMBO, 17 March (WFP) -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a vital contribution of wheat flour from the Government of Hungary for the agency’s tsunami relief operations in Sri Lanka.

Hungary’s donation, valued at Ft 10 million ($55,000), will be used as part of the WFP’s general food distribution to the most vulnerable of the survivors of the 26 December tsunami, said Jeff Taft-Dick, WFP Country Director for Sri Lanka.

“We are very grateful to the Government of Hungary for stepping in with this timely and valuable donation to our emergency operation in Sri Lanka”, said Taft-Dick.  “Every contribution to WFP counts because together they make a huge difference in the lives of the people who so desperately need our assistance.”

This latest donation almost doubles Hungary’s support to the WFP this year. Hungary has been a regular donor to the WFP since 1969, giving $65,000 a year.

“We welcome this extra support from a country that has been a consistent annual donor to WFP for many years”, said Taft-Dick,

The wheat flour, which is scheduled to arrive at the Colombo port in mid-April, is sufficient to feed 1,000 people for one month.

The WFP has appealed for $256 million to help feed 2 million people around the Indian Ocean for a period of six months, from January to June 2005.  In Sri Lanka, the WFP is currently giving food aid to more than 900,000 people who lost their homes, livelihoods or family members in the tsunami.

The WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency:  we give food aid to an average of 90 million people in more than 80 countries each year, including 56 million hungry children.

WorldFoodProgrammeGlobalSchool Feeding Campaign:  For just 19 cents a day, you can help the WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school, a gift of hope for a brighter future.

Visit our main website:  www.wfp.org.

For more information, please contact:  Jeff Taft-Dick, WFP Sri Lanka, tel.:  +94 11 2508919; or Heather Hill, WFP Asia (Bangkok), tel.:  +662 659 8690, mobile:  +661 701 9208.

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