Written question asked by Martyn Jones (Labour) on Thursday, 2 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 February 2006. It was answered by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Thursday, 9 February 2006 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Food Shortages

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made on the scale of food shortages in Chechnya and Ingushetia; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: DFID relies on the UN organisations working in Chechnya and Ingushetia to provide information on the humanitarian situation in both republics. We are informed by the World Food Programme (WFP) that thousands of vulnerable people are currently suffering from the extreme weather experienced in Russia and are in urgent need of food. WFP have therefore appealed for funds to resume food rations to the region.In response to the WFP appeal, DFID will provide £200,000 through the WFP to support continued food distribution in the short-term and will maintain close contacts with the UN and the WFP to re-assess the situation over the coming months. At the same time, DFID will continue to push for better targeting of food for particularly vulnerable groups and continue efforts to move to more sustainable and recovery focused assistance to reduce dependency on food distributions.

Secondary information