YAOUNDE, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said on Monday it will begin distributing food to internally displaced persons in the war-torn English-speaking regions of Cameroon by early November.
Abdoulaye Balde, country representative for Cameroon, said the malnutrition rate in the troubled regions of Northwest and Southwest is "mounting" and an urgent solution is needed.
"They are really in need and we will like to support them. We are planning to start with 50,000 people." Balde told a press conference in Cameroon's economic capital, Douala on Monday.
On Monday, WFP began training members of Cameroon Red Cross who will assist in distribution of the 1,900 metric tonnes of food, Balde said and stressed that WFP does not need military escort to the crisis-hit regions because it is "neutral and independent".
"The most important request is for the WFP to access Northwest and Southwest regions so that people who are in there will not move out but people who are out will realize support has arrived back home and they are likely to come back." Balde said and added that WFP will stay in the troubled regions until the needs of the people are met.
According to the United Nations, more than 200,000 people have been displaced internally by the war that has been going on for over a year now.
Government forces have been clashing with armed separatist groups who have declared the "independence" of the two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.
