Over 200,000 Lao flood victims benefit from WFP, U.S. donation

Over 200,000 Lao flood victims benefit from WFP, U.S. donation

More than 200,000 people in Laos' flood-hit central and southern provinces have received donations of rice and vegetable oil to cover their basic nutritional needs from the World Food Programme (WFP) through the United States Embassy to Laos.

Cornelia Paetz, Public Information Officer of the WFP in Laos, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the contribution was officially made on Sep. 20 in the central province of Khammuane, explaining that " the food moved from the U.S. in May and arrived in Laos in early September, and is now being distributed."

She said that the donations aim to reach those people whose crops were destroyed by recent floods following tropical storm Nock-Ten in late July.

Eri Kudo, WFP Representative to Laos, said a large number of communities across Khammuane province were struck twice by disaster, as many lost their 2010 harvest in flash floods and are facing the same issue again this year.

"The food ration we give today will ensure they can take care of the immediate food and nutrition needs of their families while they rebuild their lives," she said.

Through the U.S. Embassy, the United States Agency for International Development has provided 1,460 metric tons of rice and 100 metric tons of vegetable oil, worth a total value of 1.5 million U.S. dollars, to the WFP to assist families affected by adverse weather conditions in 2010 and 2011.

The contribution enables the WFP to assist about 60,000 people in provinces affected by adverse weather conditions in 2010.

In total, the WFP is assisting over 200,000 people in five provinces to ensure their food and nutrition security until the next harvest in November 2011.

In Khammuane, 409 out of a total of 588 villages were affected by recent flooding. Throughout the province, 37,000 hectares of paddy fields, or 63 percent of the overall paddy area, were damaged or completely destroyed.

In 2010, WFP to Laos provided close to 17,500 metric tonnes of food to 665,900 people throughout the country.

Editor: Wang Guanqun

English.news.cn   2011-09-21 19:26:16 FeedbackPrintRSS
VIENTIANE, Sept. 21 (Xinhua)