UN FOOD AGENCY SENDS RELIEF TO CYCLONE-HIT PARTS OF BANGLADESH

UN FOOD AGENCY SENDS RELIEF TO CYCLONE-HIT PARTS OF BANGLADESH
New York, Nov 16 2007 8:00AM
Responding to the arrival of Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced the distribution of enough high-energy biscuits, considered vital in the early days of an emergency when cooking is impossible, to feed 400,000 people in the affected areas over the next three days.

"We have to move as quickly as possible to get food to the most vulnerable," said WFP Bangladesh Representative Douglas Broderick, pointing out that the biscuits are critical "when there is a scarcity of clean water for drinking and cooking."

Citing preliminary field reports, WFP said Cyclone Sidr caused hundreds of fatalities, damaged thousands of homes and forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

Within hours of the disaster, the agency started supplying the biscuits to affected people in areas that suffered the worst damage in what WFP said was the first phase of its assistance.

The agency said it is able to respond quickly to disasters and humanitarian crises in Bangladesh because it has ongoing operations there to support some 5 million people affected by chronic food insecurity and malnutrition.

2007-11-16 00:00:00.000

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