U.N. Says Aid to Somalia Won't Decrease Due to Fraud
Somali traders sell World Food Program, WFP, food at a market in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Photo: AP Photo)
GENEVA (AP) — The World Food Program says it has no plans to reduce aid to Somalia following allegations that international food shipments there are being diverted.
WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume says the agency is investigating alleged fraud but "there won't be any food reduction" after The Associated Press reported that food staples meant for starving Somalis are being stolen and sold in markets around the capital of Mogadishu.
Berthiaume told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the WFP investigation so far has no evidence of a large-scale fraud scheme.
She said WFP brings 5,000 tons a month of food into Somalia, and it would be implausible if half were diverted because "that would be a lot, and that would need a huge logistical operation."
