High food prices add to violence in war zones: ICRC

from Reuters

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - The global food crisis threatens to spark even more violence in war zones where millions of people are already vulnerable, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday.

The humanitarian agency vowed to press on with its work in 52 countries despite a rise in food prices that has led it to lift planned spending on rations by almost 200 percent to 100 million Swiss francs ($98 million), one-tenth of its 2008 budget.

"There is a potential for food-related violence. In contexts where people are already in a very bad situation, and we have already seen examples, you could come to food crisis-induced violence," ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said.

The agency issued its annual report on Tuesday, and Kellenberger told a news conference it was especially important that help reach conflict areas and other hotspots where accessing food aid can be "a question of survival".

The ICRC will need to spend large sums this year to provide civilians caught up in armed conflict with food and protection, Kellenberger said. "It is quite clear that it will be a year of very high expenditure. That has a lot to do with the food situation."

The Swiss-based agency is stepping up food distribution in Yemen and Somalia, where rising food prices and fighting are taking a heavy toll on the destitute. Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo are also in line for more food, and Chad, Haiti and Afghanistan are seen in critical need.

FOOD PRICES SPARK RIOTS

The world prices of basic foodstuffs have risen steeply in the last year, sparking riots in some countries.

The ICRC now estimates it will need to buy 92,000 tonnes of food this year, a spokesman said.

It spent 944 million Swiss francs ($919 million) last year on relief projects in countries including Iraq and Sudan where basic services such as healthcare have largely collapsed, the annual report said.

Worldwide, it operated water and sanitation projects that helped more than 14 million people, and provided medical supplies to hospitals and clinics that treated nearly 2.9 million patients.

Sudan, where it has more than 1,500 staff, was the ICRC's single largest operation in 2007 for the fourth straight year, with a budget of 94 million Swiss francs ($92 million).

In Sudan's western Darfur state, where government troops and rebels have been fighting since 2003, the ICRC is one of the few humanitarian groups working in remote rural areas.

Last year it visited 2,400 places of detention holding more than 500,000 detainees in 77 countries, including suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay and in U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Iraq, it is visiting more than 20,000 detainees held by U.S.-led forces, Kurdish authorities in the north, and Iraq's Justice Ministry, Kellenberger said.