Not enough money for food
2004-08-10 21:37
Johannesburg - An acute shortage of funds was seriously hampering efforts to resettle tens of thousands of Angolan refugees, some of whom fled their homes decades ago, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The agency said it had received only $45m from international donors that amounted to about 18% of the $253m it had appealed for to feed returning refugees and displaced people until the end of 2005.
"The funding shortage is seriously undermining the resettlement process and reducing the incentive for people to return to their areas of origin," said Sonsoles Ruedas, the WFP deputy country director for Angola.
Cereal rations had already been slashed by 50%, the WFP said adding that "unless there are immediate new donations, no cereals at all will be distributed in September, which is when the lean season starts".
UN agencies are undertaking a programme to repatriate and assist the refugees who fled during three decades of civil war in the former Portuguese colony in south west Africa.
About 1.4 million Angolans have already returned while an estimated 166 000 others remain in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
"Many face unimaginable misery when they return home.
"Clean drinking water from protected sources is rare, there are very few schools or health clinics and electricity remains only a dream in vast areas of the country," Ruedas explained. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA