WFP Applauds U.S. U.K. Aid

ROME - Jun 8/05 - SNS -- The United Nations World Food Programme expressed pleasure with yesterday's announcement that the United States would spend more than U.S. $2 billion funding for humanitarian emergencies in Africa and the United Kingdom around $300 million.

The World Food Programme requires more than $2 billion for its relief operations in Africa this year, and before this announcement, was almost $1 billion short of that target. In the past month alone, the organization's Country Directors in Sudan, Burundi and Sierra Leone have faced the heart-wrenching choice of cutting either the number of people receiving food relief, or the size of the rations because donations could not meet the massive needs.

The United States and the United Kingdom are two of WFP's largest donors. Last year they gave $1 billion and $116 million respectively to help WFP reach 113 million people in 80 countries.

Morris recently returned from a visit to Zambia, Swaziland, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, in his role as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for humanitarian needs in southern Africa, where the combination of AIDS, bad weather and governments' growing inability to run basic social services while thousands of civil servants die each week from AIDS is crippling communities.

"HIV is quietly generating a new kind of famine in Africa that no amount of rain will solve. Life expectancy has plummeted more than 20 years in the worst-hit countries and is now at levels not seen in Europe since the Middle Ages. More than 7 million African farm workers have already died," Morris said.

"People across Africa are telling us they can't fight HIV on an empty stomach. As more and more people receive antiretroviral treatment, thanks to donations from G-8 countries, we hope that they and their families will have the food they need to stay healthy."

"It makes no sense to pay for antiretroviral treatment without making sure that AIDS patients are well nourished," Morris said.