Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/global-d...ebola-epidemic-guinea-wfp-uncharted-territory
Scale of Ebola epidemic in Guinea forces WFP into uncharted territory
Crisis forces World Food Programme to operate beyond its remit by contributing to construction, transport and communications
Sam Jones
theguardian.com, Thursday 30 October 2014 16.54 GMT
The World Food Programme (WFP) is facing an unprecedented challenge in Guinea as it struggles to halt the spread of the Ebola, feed more than 350,000 people and protect the progress made in tackling chronic child malnutrition over recent years, a senior official has warned.
Elisabeth Faure, WFP?s Guinea director, said the scale of the epidemic was forcing the organisation to operate far beyond its core emergency mission of getting $25m (?15.5m) of food to at least 353,000 people.
As well as distributing the food, she said, the programme was now being called on to help build Ebola treatment centres, move aid workers around the country and provide emergency communications.
?We?re transporting medical equipment into remote areas, we?re helping with procuring personal protective equipment kits and gloves and we?re also moving humanitarian personnel with our humanitarian air service, which is a 19-seater aircraft,? she said.
?It?s a very deep engagement that goes well beyond our mandate, frankly. This is a huge operation and what?s really different is building treatment centres. The WFP builds other things, like huge warehouses, and does road rehabilitation in order to get food from A to B ? But the new thing is building treatment centres.?...
Scale of Ebola epidemic in Guinea forces WFP into uncharted territory
Crisis forces World Food Programme to operate beyond its remit by contributing to construction, transport and communications
Sam Jones
theguardian.com, Thursday 30 October 2014 16.54 GMT
The World Food Programme (WFP) is facing an unprecedented challenge in Guinea as it struggles to halt the spread of the Ebola, feed more than 350,000 people and protect the progress made in tackling chronic child malnutrition over recent years, a senior official has warned.
Elisabeth Faure, WFP?s Guinea director, said the scale of the epidemic was forcing the organisation to operate far beyond its core emergency mission of getting $25m (?15.5m) of food to at least 353,000 people.
As well as distributing the food, she said, the programme was now being called on to help build Ebola treatment centres, move aid workers around the country and provide emergency communications.
?We?re transporting medical equipment into remote areas, we?re helping with procuring personal protective equipment kits and gloves and we?re also moving humanitarian personnel with our humanitarian air service, which is a 19-seater aircraft,? she said.
?It?s a very deep engagement that goes well beyond our mandate, frankly. This is a huge operation and what?s really different is building treatment centres. The WFP builds other things, like huge warehouses, and does road rehabilitation in order to get food from A to B ? But the new thing is building treatment centres.?...