WFP LOGISTICS OPERATION GAINS MOMENTUM
WFP's massive logistics operation to replenish Iraq's Public Distribution System, used to deliver food aid to 27 million people, continues to gain momentum.
Ships filled with tens of thousands of metric tons of food aid are docking at ports around the region, trucks are rolling along four humanitarian corridors and WFP staff are assessing Iraq's network of silos, warehouses, mills and the food agents who handout rations:
SHIPMENTS INTO REGION: UPDATE
Turkey: offloading of 28,500 metric tons of United States-donated wheat from the 'Yellow Rose', which docked at Mersin port on April 24, will be completed later on Monday.
The largest single food donation to WFP's emergency operation will be stored temporarily in a warehouse, until customs procedures are complete and milling of the wheat can start later in the week.
Some 37,000 tonnes of Russian wheat will be offloaded from the 'Petros' at Turkey's Toros port on Wednesday.
The ship, sailing under a Greek flag, has been waiting for over a month to deliver its cargo, purchased under an old contract from the United Nations Oil for Food Programme (OFFP). The wheat will go into a bonded warehouse until negotiations on the status of OFFP contracts is complete.
Jordan: the 'Southern Star' docked at Aqaba port on April 27, its hold filled with a 32,500 tonne OFFP shipment from Thailand.
The cargo - 20,000 tonnes of rice and 12,500 tonnes of sugar - will be stored in WFP's warehouses at Aqaba.
The 'Andromeda', another OFFP ship, docked at Aqaba on April 26 with 50,000 tonnes of wheat grain from the Australia Wheat Board on board. Like the 'Petros', the ship is also awaiting the outcome of OFFP negotiations.
HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS: LATEST
With almost daily food convoys running out of Jordan, Turkey and Syria, on April 26 WFP had dispatched 55,273 tonnes of food aid into Iraq -- enough to feed nearly four million Iraqis for one month.
The weekly amounts of food aid delivered to Iraq have been climbing consistently since March 30-April 5, when WFP dispatched 1,652 tonnes through Turkey into the three Northern Governorates of Dahuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah .
From April 20-26, the Agency sent 28,490 tonnes through four corridors - Turkey, Iran, Syria and Jordan.
FOOD AID DISTRIBUTION: LATEST
North: WFP has never stopped distributing food aid in the Northern Governorates since the war started.
After years of managing the food rationing system under the OFFP, local staff were quickly able to re-activate the network of food and flour agents, usually shopkeepers, used to hand out rations to the the local population.
Distribution was also resumed to schools, hospitals and other social institutions.
In April, WFP has distributed over 17,700 tonnes of food aid to nearly two million people in the predominantly Kurdish northern provinces.
Mosul, capital of Ninewa Province: following a request from the local Department of Health, WFP will distribute 147 tonnes of wheat-soya milk, 680 tonnes of vegetable oil and wheat flour to some 1,500 hospital patients.
Last week, the Agency's staff made a two-day assessment of the hospital patients. Rations reach Mosul today.
Centre / South: with food security now returning to pre-war levels in the North, WFP is focusing on the Public Distribution System (PDS) used to distribute food rations in the Central and Southern Governorates.
The Agency is building-up stocks, repairing warehouses, assessing mills & silos and ensuring officials of the Ministry of Trade are back at work.
Some 25 of Iraq's 42 grain silos + 74 mills are located in Baghdad, Mosul and Basra. If the mills are functioning and, if necessary, have been demined, their monthly milling capacity of 270,000 tonnes will meet the needs of the entire Iraqi population.
Basra: a rapid assessment over the weekend has established that Basra's PDS can be reactivated quickly:
WFP staff met senior representatives from the Ministry of Trade, warehouses can be prepared for convoys' arrival and food agents readied for handing out rations to the local population.
Two of Basra's markets are currently open for business, including Ashar Basra, which works seven days a week.
Not all commodities are available in the city's shops, and prices have risen 200-300 percent. The cost of cooking gas has increased 20 fold since the start of the war.
Fuel in Basra: only two petrol stations are working, with fuel being sold at 250 ID/litre. Queues of cars stretch several kilometres in front of the station
Food aid for Refugees: Jordan
WFP has sent food aid to the no-man's land between the Jordanian-Iraqi border, where over 1,300 people fleeing Iraq are awaiting permission to enter Jordan
The potential refugees include Iranian Kurds, Iranians and some Arabs 
WFP's consignment includes four metric tons of chickpeas and 1.7 tonnes of vegetable oil - enough to feed 2,000 refugees for one month 
Since December, WFP has been prepositioning food around the region for a possible exodus of 2.1 million refugees and asylum seekers 
WFP continues to provide daily bread to two refugee camps located at Ruwayishad, 70 km inside Jordan
The first camp holds 591 Palestinians, with 250 third country nationals in the other camp. The camps have a combined capacity of 25,000
Contact Information
This is a summary of what was said by WFP spokesperson Khaled Mansour - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at the press briefing, on 28 April 2003, in Amman, Jordan
For more information: tel: +962-79-666-9947