UN food agency appeals for support to help displaced in Colombia
30 August -- Amid mounting concerns over a new wave of displacement in Colombia, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed for support to its relief operation designed to help stabilize what it said was "the worst humanitarian situation in the western hemisphere."

"With the spectre of increased conflict and instability in Colombia, we need to be able to show the civilian population that they will have protection, help and hope," said WFP official Francisco Roque Castro. The agency fears that the Colombian authorities could intensify their crackdown on the illicit drug trade, leading to a fresh outbreak of violence that could drive thousands of civilians from their homes.

Earlier this year, WFP launched a $9 million two-year operation aimed at providing food to 230,000 people who constitute the poorest of Colombia's displaced. So far, the operation has received only one donation -- 10,000 metric tonnes of food commodities from the United States -- representing about one fourth of the total required.

"We simply do not have the resources we need to help people who need it most," Mr. Roque Castro said. He appealed to donor governments to provide WFP with the financial support it needs to "tackle this crisis head on."

The operation seeks to address the range of consequences spawned by Colombia's growing displacement rate, which has doubled since 1996 to 180,000 per year. Because of internal strife among rebel groups, government troops and paramilitary forces, more than 1.1 million people have fled their homes over the past 15 years.