UN DELEGATION ON A VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT MISSION

The United Nations (UN) delegation comprising of 16 members representing different UN agencies from the Southern African regional office of the UN will arrive in the country on Friday (tomorrow), for a vulnerability assessment mission.

The Disaster Management Authority (DMA) Information Officer, Mr Majara Theko said the purpose of the visit is to make an assessment of families and individual persons who are vulnerable as a result of food shortage caused by the prevalent drought situation in the country.

Mr Theko indicated that the assessment would be done in collaboration with DMA and the Food and Agricultural Organization on Friday and Saturday this week throughout the whole country. The UN delegation will work in four groups of four persons whereby two of the groups will cover two districts each and the other two will each work on three districts.

He said this assessment is being done as the UN's response to the Prime Minister, Mr. Pakalitha Mosisili's declaration of the emergency in the national food security, made earlier this year. This is because Lesotho is one of the poverty stricken countries in the Southern African region.

20 February 2004