Groundbreaking agreement allows UN food aid to cross Libya bound for Chad

A convoy of trucks carrying the first consignment of emergency food aid across the Sahara desert for Sudanese refugees in Chad left the Libyan town of Al Kohfra today, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced.

The delivery is part of a groundbreaking agreement between the agency and the Tripoli Government to help feed 1.4 million people displaced by fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

The convoy of 20 trucks carrying 440 tons of wheat flour bought with a Swiss donation began its 2,000-kilometre trek across the Sahara after a ceremony attended by dignitaries in Al Kohfra, an ancient trading post on the edge of the Sahara. The shipment is expected to take another two weeks to reach the refugee camps in Chad.

"The epic journey - mainly through desert - provides a lifeline to the Sudanese refugees and once again demonstrates the huge logistical obstacles which WFP and other aid agencies must overcome to reach landlocked eastern Chad," said WFP's Ramiro Lopes da Silva.

"The Libyan corridor is a real breakthrough for WFP as we battle against the rains and the clock to feed these refugees," he added.

The new route will allow the agency to move hundreds of extra tons of food each month to camps housing over 165,000 Sudanese driven from their homes in Darfur. An estimated 9,000 more refugees are near the border awaiting transfer to camps.

WFP Chief of Staff Mike Stayton hailed the WFP-Libya agreement, which was signed last month. "The significance of opening this 'gateway to Africa' for humanitarian supplies is enormous," he said, saying it will provide a “vitally needed corridor” for Central Africa for relief aid.

“We are greatly encouraged by this cooperation and hope to build a long-term humanitarian partnership with Libya," Mr. Stayton added.

Until now, WFP has been transporting most food aid via the port of Douala in Cameroon, but heavy rains render many of Chad's roads unusable, blocking the movement of food for hours or days at a time. The most direct route from the Chadian capital, N'djamena, to the refugee sites is impassable for much of the rainy season. Near the camps, flash floods have swallowed up several of four-wheel drive vehicles and trucks belonging to aid agencies.

The Libyan corridor will allow year-round access to refugee camps in Chad, and to make food transport more efficient and secure. The route also provides a potential link to the estimated 1.5 million people affected by the conflict in Darfur itself.