The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated US $3 million (Rs 247 million) to assist rural communities in Nepal suffering from serious food insecurity caused by rapidly increasing food prices, the destruction of food stocks and crops by the recent floods, and the effects of long-term conflict, according to a release issued by the UN body Wednesday.

Life-saving projects developed by the UN and humanitarian partners aim to meet critical food needs of vulnerable households especially those most at risk, including women, children, ethnic minorities and indigenous populations in the Mid-Western, Far-Western and Terai districts of the country, stated the release.

“Nearly one and a half a million (1.5 million) people in these remote regions need urgent assistance to meet their basic food needs,” noted UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal, Robert Piper in the release. “Levels of acute malnutrition are extremely high, especially among poor, landless and marginalized populations.”

CERF funding, the release said, will ensure that vulnerable families continue to receive the critical food assistance being provided by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and partners as well as creating quick-impact opportunities to help restore family livelihoods through community construction and infrastructure projects

In 2008, Nepal received a total of US $ 12.6 million (Rs 1 billion) from the CERF in four different allocations to provide humanitarian assistance in response to the Koshi floods, flooding and landslides in the mid and far-western regions, the food crisis, and other urgent humanitarian needs. nepalnews.com Dec 04 08