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W-F-P Launches New Program to Feed Afghans VOA News 6 Feb 2002 08:33 UTC 
The United Nations is launching a 285-million dollar program to provide food to Afghanistan's hungry citizens. The Executive-Director of the U.N. World Food Program - Catherine Bertini - who just concluded a tour of Afghanistan, told reporters in Washington (Tuesday) that Afghanistan still needs a great deal of humanitarian assistance. Ms. Bertini said her organization estimates that Afghanistan will need at least 544-thousand tons of food - most of which will be initially distributed as free food aid. She also cautioned that the W-F-P may need more supplies if the harvest in Afghanistan again falls below expectations because of continued drought. Meanwhile, the interim Afghan administration of Hamid Karzai is trying to deal with internal violence like last week's factional fighting in the eastern Paktia province. A team of government mediators is in the provincial capital of Gardez, trying to push the rival sides into a peace deal. Earlier, U.N. mediators in northern Afghanistan said they have brokered a ceasefire between feuding factions in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
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