Insecurity forces WFP to cancel planned aid convoy to Southern Lebanon

The decision was in accordance with established security procedures in Lebanon, under which WFP requires concurrence from all parties involved in the conflict for humanitarian aid convoy movements. This is the first time that such concurrence has not been forthcoming.

'We are extremely disappointed and indeed frustrated that we have been unable to go ahead with this convoy,' said Amer Daoudi, WFP Emergency Coordinator for Lebanon. 'There are tens of thousands of people in the south who are in desperate need of assistance. Obviously, this is a setback, but it will not deter us from pressing ahead with further convoys or from trying to reach people in the worst affected areas.'

The six-truck convoy to Marjayoun was loaded with a variety of relief supplies including medicines from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), WFP, Mercy Corps and Norwegian People's Aid. Supplies aboard five of the trucks included 45 metric tons of wheat flour, six tons of canned meat and six tons of vegetable oil from WFP. It would have marked the fourth UN aid convoy dispatched to the south by WFP since last Wednesday.

From Monday, WFP, which is responsible for transporting all aid for UN agencies and much of the humanitarian community throughout Lebanon, is planning to send at least two convoys a day to the south, which has borne the brunt of the bombardment since hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah fighters erupted two weeks ago. The UN estimates that at least 800,000 people - more than one-fifth of the entire population of Lebanon - have been displaced by the conflict.

On Saturday, WFP established the first international land crossing for regular humanitarian shipments into Lebanon from Syria with a convoy carrying UNICEF and UNHCR relief items. A second convoy of relief aid from Aarida to Beirut is scheduled for today. The border point at the Mediterranean town of Aarida, is the only crossing remaining open to traffic between the two countries. Over the past few days, tens of thousands of refugees have been flooding across the border point to escape the fighting.

Over the coming days and weeks WFP plans to expand international access to Lebanon by negotiating the opening of the sea ports of Beirut and Tyre for UN chartered and managed vessels. This morning a unit of 22 technical and logistics staff and nine trucks plus support vehicles from the Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA) arrived in Damascus from Gothenburg, with another airlift scheduled for tomorrow. The truck drivers, mechanics, instructors and medical personnel, together with the trucks and a mobile service station, will start travelling to Lebanon today where they will remain for the next three months to provide essential services.

One of the major challenges facing WFP -- coordinator of the massive logistics operation on behalf of the relief community in Lebanon -- is mobilising sufficient trucks and drivers to deliver aid, especially given the dangerous roads and security atmosphere.

'We are grateful to the SRSA for stepping in to help us in the hugely challenging task of reaching the needy,' said Daoudi. 'We have partnered with them in previous operations - including, most recently, the Pakistan earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami - and we value their experience and support immensely.'

WFP operations within the UN flash appeal have been valued at a total of US$48 million, including logistical support and an emergency operation to provide food aid, valued at US$8.9 million, to respond to the immediate food needs of displaced Lebanese. WFP is giving priority to distributing assistance to those most in need, including 95,000 displaced people seeking shelter in schools and public institutions in Beirut, 165,000 people in the heaviest-hit areas in southern Lebanon and 50,000 of the approximately 140,000 people in Syria who have fled the conflict.