World Refugee Day: Helping The ?One in Five?

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:31 GMT

Source: Content partner // World Food Programme  http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/world-refugee-day-helping-the-one-in-five

They fled across the borders of Libya as the country slid into civil war. They ran for their lives through the dense bush in western Cote d’Ivoire, to reach shelter in Liberia. And, as famine loomed in Somalia, they poured into the camps of Dadaab in Kenya and Dolo Ado in Ethiopia desperate for food, water and medical attention. 

ROME — Of the 99 million people who received WFP food assistance last year, one in five was a displaced person. Forced to flee across borders as refugees, or internally displaced within their own countries by fighting or by natural disasters, they are among the world’s most vulnerable people. Every year on World Refugee Day (20 June), we recognize their struggle.

WFP Assisting RefugeesIn 2011, WFP provided food assistance to: • Refugees: 2,595,785• IDPs: 15,093,137• Returnees: 3,061,072 

Unfortunately, many refugee crises continue for a long time. For example, WFP provides food assistance near the Sudan-Eritrea border in camps for Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees that were set up in the 1960s.