Children will go hungry this festive season

AROUND 90 000 orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia face a Christmas without food while most other people are feasting.

The World Food Programme and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare announced yesterday that they lack the funding to deliver enough food aid to the hungriest 90 000 children in six northern regions of Namibia. The WFP, in conjunction with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, has supplied children in Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Kavango and Caprivi with food since April this year.It provides a monthly take-home ration to each child registered with the programme, which includes maize meal, corn-soya blend, cooking oil and pulses.Yesterday the WFP and the Ministry said the distribution would be interrupted by the second half of December unless more money can be found.John Prout, the WFP Country Director for Namibia, told The Namibian that they need US$4 million to feed the children up to April next year.”It’s an unjust and preventable tragedy that children – especially orphans – become the victims of funding shortfalls,” he said.”The international community should not forget that a hungry child in Namibia is every bit as desperate as a vulnerable child in the rest of the world.”He said it was already too late to ensure an uninterrupted flow of food aid to the children through December.However, if US$1 million were donated in cash now, WFP could resume rations in January.”The longer it takes to receive donations, the longer it will take to get the feeding programmes back on track,” Prout said.He said as new problems emerge in different parts of Africa and the rest of the world, donor focus has shifted away from southern Africa and all their programmes across the region have been affected by the reduced availability of resources.WFP has been working with the Government of Namibia for the last 18 months to establish programmes to feed children in the six northern regions.”Now that the programmes are underway funding has dried up at the most critical time – the ‘lean season’ when food from the last harvest runs out,” Prout said.The WFP faces a shortfall of US$4 million for its operations in Namibia through to April, and needs a total of US$9 million through to the end of 2007.Prout said the needs they address were “very real and even more so as we enter the lean season before next year’s harvest”.It is expected that many of the vulnerable children being assisted under this programme of support will apply for social welfare grants during 2007 and, if eligible, be transferred from food assistance to grant support during the course of next year.”While we are very disappointed that distributions are being affected at a critical time of the operation, we understand the resourcing constraints that WFP faces and hope that the situation will be resolved soon,” said Sirkka Ausiku, Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.Due to a lack of donor support, since September WFP offices across the region have begun to reduce the level of food assistance provided to mother-and-child nutrition centres, school-feeding projects and patients receiving medication for HIV-AIDS or tuberculosis.Namibia, along with Malawi and Swaziland, is facing severe cuts of between 80 and 100 per cent.Prout said WFP has used internal untied multi-lateral donations to fund activities until now, hoping the international community would support these critically needed feeding programmes.The WFP, in conjunction with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, has supplied children in Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Kavango and Caprivi with food since April this year.It provides a monthly take-home ration to each child registered with the programme, which includes maize meal, corn-soya blend, cooking oil and pulses.Yesterday the WFP and the Ministry said the distribution would be interrupted by the second half of December unless more money can be found.John Prout, the WFP Country Director for Namibia, told The Namibian that they need US$4 million to feed the children up to April next year.”It’s an unjust and preventable tragedy that children – especially orphans – become the victims of funding shortfalls,” he said.”The international community should not forget that a hungry child in Namibia is every bit as desperate as a vulnerable child in the rest of the world.”He said it was already too late to ensure an uninterrupted flow of food aid to the children through December.However, if US$1 million were donated in cash now, WFP could resume rations in January.”The longer it takes to receive donations, the longer it will take to get the feeding programmes back on track,” Prout said.He said as new problems emerge in different parts of Africa and the rest of the world, donor focus has shifted away from southern Africa and all their programmes across the region have been affected by the reduced availability of resources.WFP has been working with the Government of Namibia for the last 18 months to establish programmes to feed children in the six northern regions.”Now that the programmes are underway funding has dried up at the most critical time – the ‘lean season’ when food from the last harvest runs out,” Prout said.The WFP faces a shortfall of US$4 million for its operations in Namibia through to April, and needs a total of US$9 million through to the end of 2007.Prout said the needs they address were “very real and even more so as we enter the lean season before next year’s harvest”.It is expected that many of the vulnerable children being assisted under this programme of support will apply for social welfare grants during 2007 and, if eligible, be transferred from food assistance to grant support during the course of next year.”While we are very disappointed that distributions are being affected at a critical time of the operation, we understand the resourcing constraints that WFP faces and hope that the situation will be resolved soon,” said Sirkka Ausiku, Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.Due to a lack of donor support, since September WFP offices across the region have begun to reduce the level of food assistance provided to mother-and-child nutrition centres, school-feeding projects and patients receiving medication for HIV-AIDS or tuberculosis.Namibia, along with Malawi and Swaziland, is facing severe cuts of between 80 and 100 per cent.Prout said WFP has used internal untied multi-lateral donations to fund activities until now, hoping the international community would support these critically needed feeding programmes.