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UNMIK/PR/598 WFP ASSISTS FRESH WAVE OF REFUGEES INTO KOSOVO Pristina - The United Nations World Food Programme is tapping contingency stockpiles and mobilising extra staff to assist a fresh wave of ethnic Albanian refugees fleeing into Kosovo from the conflict in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM). More than 18,000 refugees have crossed the border in the past week to escape an upsurge in fighting, bringing the total to over 41,000. Another 3,500 Macedonian Albanians have fled into southern Serbia. On arrival, the refugees are registered, sheltered in temporary accommodation and given emergency WFP daily rations that include tinned meat. Once settled with local families, they receive a full month's ration of wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil and sugar. The foodstuffs are drawn from contingency stocks expressly established to enable the WFP respond promptly to sudden humanitarian crises in the Balkans. Many of the earlier refugees have been assisted by the WFP for more
than three
months. The Global Campaign to End Child Hunger -- As the largest provider of nutritious meals to poor school children, WFP has launched a global campaign aimed at ensuring the world's 300 million undernourished children are educated. For more information please contact:
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