21/10/2005
Azerbaijani Food Aid Programme Faces Shut Down

In yet another plea to the international community to boost a food aid programme, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) appealed this week for immediate help to provide food assistance to 130,000 Azerbaijanis displaced by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia. Without immediate help from international donors the programme could come to a complete halt in just three weeks time, the agency warned.

“For this to happen just before the onset of the harsh winter and during the holy month of Ramadan would be a severe blow to the displaced population, who are predominantly Muslim,” said Amir Abdulla, WFP’s Regional Director. “Unless we can get enough resources right now, we will have no choice but to stop food assistance schemes at the beginning on November,” he added.

Since 1994, WFP has helped hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis displaced by the armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. More than 600,000 Azerbaijanis fled the region to other parts of Azerbaijan and are now spread across western, central and eastern parts of the country
with extremely limited opportunities for employment.

“Seventy per cent of WFP’s beneficiaries are women and children,” said WFP Country Director Rahman Chowdhury. “Any discontinuation of food assistance will seriously affect their health and nutritional well being.”

If the situation fails to improve, WFP’s school feeding programme, which covers 5,300 primary schoolchildren, will also come to a halt. Children regularly attending school receive a basket of take-home commodities.