Millions in Southern Africa face hungry Christmas, says UN

Millions of people in Southern Africa are again confronted by the grim prospect of not having enough to eat during the Christmas season and beyond unlessdonor countries respond quickly with generous cash donations, the World Food Program (WFP) warned on Wednesday.

In a statement issued here, the Rome-based UN agency said it needs an immediate 63 million US dollars to meet food aid needs for the first quarter of 2005 in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia, the five core countries affected by emergency food shortages over the last two years.

WFP appealed in October for 404 million dollars in aid to buy food for the five countries in the next three years, but so far ithas received only 2.5 percent of that amount -- about 10 million dollars.

The agency has been steadily cutting rations to more than 2.8 million people in Southern Africa over the last six months, many of them living with HIV/AIDS and many of them children. Most have been surviving on half a normal ration, or less.

"There will be serious health and nutritional repercussions if people have to accept a further reduction in their meager ration,"WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa Mike Sackett was quoted as saying.

"While many of us will be sitting down with our families and friends to celebrate Christmas, millions of men, women and children face a very bleak time because we were unable to meet their basic food needs."

"The traditional lean season -- from January to March -- will be particularly tough as we will have to cut rations even further unless we receive immediate cash donations," Sackett said.

"WFP will run out of food for Lesotho by the end of January andother countries in the region in the following weeks. By the beginning of March we won't have any cereals left."

Source: Xinhua