SOUTH AFRICA: HIGH LEVEL OFFICIALS FROM AID AGENCIES GATHER TO DISCUSS FOOD SHORTAGE CRISIS

Record ID: 640568

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: HIGH LEVEL OFFICIALS FROM AID AGENCIES GATHER TO DISCUSS FOOD SHORTAGE CRISIS
  • Date: 7th June 2002
  • Summary: (U3) JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 6, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS; SLV DELEGATES LISTENING; SCU INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE RED CROSS (ICRC) TAG; SCU FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION (FAO) TAG; SCU WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) TAG (6 SHOTS) 24 SLV/MV DELEGATES LISTENING 29 (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUDITH LEWIS WFP REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA SAYING "We've had a number of natural occurrences that have not helped the situation, we've had droughts in some countries, dry spells in other countries, we've had floods, we've had early frosts, we've had too much rain in our countries. So people that are dependant on agriculture just have not been able to produce enough food that will sustain them until the next harvest." 51 MV DELEGATES FROM THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM LISTENING 56 MV SWISS AND SWEDISH DELEGATES LISTENING 00 (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEWIS SAYING "I think the images that we would see, would be very reminiscent of the Somalia situation, of Ethiopia, Southern Ethiopia's looking to some of the other very tragic humanitarian emergencies that we've seen around the world. We are not going to let that happen, our goal is to use this meeting as the launching to ask our international partners to help us so that we get food to these countries, stocks built up, so that we don't have to see those awful images." 34 SCU DELEGATE FROM NORWAY LISTENING 37 MV NETHERLANDS DELEGATES LISTENING 43 SCU FRANCE TAG; SCU EUROPEAN UNION TAG; MV MORE DELEGATES (3 SHOTS) 55
  • Embargoed: 22nd June 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACK89PBPLAF70SU0MCGUL8KAK
  • Story Text: Almost 100 high level officials from a wide representation of aid agencies, donors and governments and the South Africa Development Community (SADC) have gathered in Johannesburg for two days of discussion on the food shortage crisis unfolding in southern Africa.
    The meeting on Thursday (June 6, 2002) comes on the heels of fresh warnings by experts from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) that more than 10 million people in six Southern African countries are threatened with starvation over the next year.
    The discussions on June 6-7 will centre on reviewing the results of the recent FAO/WFP Food and Crop Supply Assessments, as well as other aid agency mission findings.
    The implications of the crisis over the next 12 months will be discussed in detail, as will the humanitarian response needed and resources required to address food and non-food needs. A coherent approach to the crisis will be determined by bringing together the all the key stakeholders at this critical moment in the humanitarian response.
    The meeting is a special session called by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), a body of United Nations and non-governmental organizations which regularly meet on humanitarian issues. It will be co-chaired by Jean-Jacques Graisse, WFP Deputy Executive Director and Ross Mountain, Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
    Also to be discussed at the meeting will be the logistical challenges of delivering massive amounts of food aid and other commodities to the countries in the region, many of which are land-locked. The devastating impact of food shortages on HIV/AIDS affected people will be another important topic.
    HIV/AIDS rates in Southern Africa are the worst in the world.
    In March, the IASC requested Judith Lewis, WFP's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, to coordinate a series of multi-sectoral assessments in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland in order to gain a deeper understanding of the worsening humanitarian situation and the food crisis in particular.
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