The UN World Food Program (WFP) is scaling up its emergency operation in eastern Ukraine to feed close to 190,000 vulnerable people displaced by the conflict and civilians trapped near the frontlines, a UN spokesperson said here.
WFP "has also stocked food supplies near the conflict areas in anticipation of further waves of displacement and for distribution to people affected by the violence," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Thursday at a daily news briefing.
Over the next few months, WFP would increase its assistance, including a one-off distribution of locally-procured food to more than 110,000 people to meet their urgent food needs in largely besieged areas where access is limited and food supplies have dwindled, he said.
"The food rations include staples such as rice, vegetable oil, pasta, wheat flour, and canned food," Dujarric said. "In relatively stable areas with functioning markets and an influx of displaced families, WFP would distribute three rounds of food vouchers for nearly 80,000 of the most vulnerable people, particularly the elderly and female-headed households."
"Food prices have also risen dramatically in the eastern parts of the country," he said.
A recent survey found that prices in the area have gone up by 30 percent for items such as bread and milk and by 75-80 percent for meat and cheese, compared with the same period last year.
The emergency WFP assistance came several days after parties to the conflict in Ukraine signed a ceasefire.
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According to the WFP, more than a million people have been displaced in Ukraine since the start of the crisis. Many of them have exhausted their life savings and have no access to jobs.
Particular attention will be focused on providing food assistance to displaced elderly people and the host communities caring for them. A WFP team met newly displaced families from areas near Debaltseve and Horlivka and heard their stories of escaping the conflict and how there are still people trapped in besieged areas.
WFP began its operations in Ukraine in August 2014 and has reached over 50,000 people with food vouchers and food parcel distributions at a cost of 21.5 million U.S. dollars.