WFP, partners start aid delivery for thousands of people affected by Libya crisis

The World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners have started delivering some 1,300 tons of food aid to Libyan communities in the east and west of the north African country, a UN spokesman told reporters here Tuesday.

The delivery is expected to reach nearly 5,000 displaced families in the coming week, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

The UN agency requires 47.7 million U.S. dollars to provide aid in the mostly affected areas in 2016.

According to the recently launched 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan for Libya, some 2.44 million people need assistance as well as protection. Nearly half a million of them are displaced and an estimated 1.3 million Libyans remain food insecure.

"We are worried about the dire humanitarian situation in Libya, if adequate funding is not allocated to respond to those in need," said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya, Ali Al-Za'tari. "So far our Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 is zero-funded."

"It is not an acceptable situation," Al-Za'tari said, stressing that the Libyan government and the international community need to recognize the enormity of the county's humanitarian crisis if funding is not received on time and in volume.

Libya has been plagued by factional fighting since the 2011 downfall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi, with the situation continuing to deteriorate in recent months amid significant political fragmentation and violence. Endit