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Chad + 1 more

Libya assists WFP in race to get food aid to refugees in Chad

Cairo, 14 May 2007 - WFP thanked the Government of Libya for facilitating the transport of 14,000 metric tons of cereals through its territory to Chad, where more than 200,000 Sudanese fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Darfur have taken refuge in camps in the north of the country and are desperately in need of assistance.

In addition to assisting WFP in port operations, including customs clearance, port storage and other services, Libya has also provided highly subsidized fuel prices, free storage in warehouses in the oasis town of El Khufra, escorts to the Chadian border and road repairs.

Race against time

"In an emergency operation of this magnitude, the logistics of getting the food to the areas most in need is simply a race against time. We are extremely grateful for Libya's continuing support to make this operation run smoothly and quickly," said Naila Sabra, WFP's Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Since August 2004, Libya has provided a crucial ground transport corridor from the Libyan port of Benghazi through the Sahara Desert and on to Chad. This route, which is currently crossed by hundreds of Libyan desert trucks, continues to deliver substantial amounts of WFP food aid.

About 6,000 tons of food are still in warehouses in Khufra, the last town before the desert starts, waiting to be transported.

Libyan corridor

To date, WFP has delivered by truck over 100,000 tons of food through the Libyan corridor.

"The Libyan corridor is a crucial transportation channel that has allowed us to dramatically increase the amount of food aid we can deliver overland to Darfur and Chad," said Sabra.

Shared frontiers with six other nations have rendered Chad vulnerable to the spill-over effects beyond its borders.

The country has very limited capacity to cope with the presence of refugees and relies heavily on external assistance to be able to improve its own food security.

Contact us

Simon Crittle
WFP/Juba
South Sudan
Tel. +249-912-167-293
Thuraya: + 882-1621115219
simon.crittle@wfp.org

Emilia Casella
WFP/Khartoum
Tel: +249-912-179-190
emilia.casella@wfp.org

Peter Smerdon
WFP/Nairobi
Tel. +254 20 7622 179
Cell. +254 733 528 911
peter.smerdon@wfp.org

Khaled Mansour
WFP/Cairo
Tel. +20-2-5281730
Ext. 2600
Mob. +20-122348671
khaled.mansour@wfp.org

Mia Turner
WFP/Cairo
Tel. +20-2-5281730
Ext. 2610, Mob. +20-122455769
mia.turner@wfp.org

Gregory Barrow
WFP/London
Tel. +44-20-72409001
Cell. +44-7968-008474
gregory.barrow@wfp.org

Barry Came
WFP/Rome
Tel: +39-06-6513-2411
Cell. +39 3382225382
gregory.barrow@wfp.org

Christiane Berthiaume
WFP/Geneva
Tel. +41-22-9178564
Cell. +41-792857304
christiane.berthiaume@wfp.org

Jennifer Parmelee
WFP/Washington
Tel. +1-202-6530010
Ext. 1149
Cell. +1-202-4223383
jennifer.parmelee@wfp.org

Bettina Luescher
WFP/New York
Tel. +1-212-9635196
Cell. +1-646-8241112
lluescher@un.org