20110203
Xinhua
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) called on enhanced global action to prevent what he called "humanitarian disaster" in Libya, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said here Wednesday.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran, who visited the border of Tunisia and Libya on Tuesday, said that "it is clear that the world must step up action to prevent a disaster inside Libya," Nesirky told reporters here in a daily press conference.

She called for "safe humanitarian access to the country" and stressed that "cutting off food supplies must not be used as a weapon" in a statement Tuesday.

Currently, WFP is launching a nearly 40 million U.S. dollars in an emergency operation to provide food aid to 2.7 million people in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, he told reporters. "It is also planning a three-month program to help shore up the food safety nets of Egypt and Tunisia, and will also purchase food from the region to help ensure that the recovery from the disruption can begin immediately."

Meanwhile, the United Nation refugee agency, known as UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are appealing to governments for a "massive humanitarian evacuation of tens of thousands of Egyptians and other third-country nationals who have fled into Tunisia from Libya," Nesirky noted.

It has been reported that more than 75,000 people -- mostly Egyptian nationals -- have crossed into Tunisia since late last month. Around 40,000 more are waiting to enter, and the organizations are concerned that the overcrowding at the border is worsening by the hour, Nesirky said.