WFP Emergency Food Reaches People Affected By Massive Flooding In ACEH, Indonesia

Within hours of the first reports of devastating floods this week
in the Indonesian province of Aceh, the United Nations World Food Programme
(WFP) moved rapidly to deliver emergency supplies by air and road to some
127,000 displaced people in the hardest hit districts of Aceh Tamiang and
Gayo Lues.


WFP is currently moving food aid overland with trucks, while in the most
inaccessible mountain areas where people are still cut off, the agency is
airlifting emergency assistance, using both a WFP-operated helicopter of
the UN Humanitarian Air Service, and two helicopters provided by the
Government of Indonesia.


"This is excellent collaborative work with the local government, the
Indonesian military, NGOs and UN agencies, which is having the desired
impact on the affected population," said Mohamed Salaheen, WFP
Representative in Indonesia.


"We are grateful to Norway, Spain and the UN's Central Emergency Response
Fund for making funds available immediately to allow us to effectively
respond to this disaster. We urge other donors to continue to support this
relief effort," Salaheen added.


By Friday 29 December, WFP had delivered 122 metric tons of food aid -
micronutrient-enriched noodles and biscuits - which was already being
distributed to displaced people in camps. WFP is working closely with local
officials to ensure that food aid distribution is coordinated and delivered
to those most in need. A logistics base for the operation has been
established in Lhokseumawe, in northeast Aceh province.


WFP has so far prepared sufficient supplies and logistics assets to provide
emergency rations to the affected population for approximately two weeks.
However, the number of people receiving assistance is expected to rise, as
isolated villages are still being reached for the first time after the
flooding.


Indonesian authorities report more than 300,000 people have been displaced
in Aceh, including the districts of Biruen, North Aceh, Bener Meriah, Aceh
Timur, Gayo Lues, and Aceh Tamiang. WFP has joined a joint UN-NGO
assessment currently underway in all affected districts to assess overall
damage and needs.


Funds for the flood relief are being drawn from WFP's current protracted
relief operation in Indonesia. Donors to this operation include Australia
(US$26 million), Japan (US$14 million), Indonesia (US$7 million), the
United States (US$6.1 million), Canada (US$5.6 million), Saudi Arabia
(US$2.1 million), the Russian Federation (US$2 million), Switzerland
(US$1.3 million), Greece (US$600,000), Portugal (US$500,000), Spain
(US$300,000), Belgium (US$100,000), the European Commission (US$90,000),
ASEAN (US$50,000), Lithuania (US$40,000), Slovakia (US$30,000) and New
Zealand (US$30,000). A further US$21.4 million has come from the private
sector and US$1.2 million in multilateral contributions.


WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to
an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest
countries. WFP -- We Feed People.


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help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift
of hope for a brighter future.


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