KAMPALA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Program (WFP) onWednesday warned that food donations to over 1.45 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda will be runout of in December.

    According to a press release issued here, WFP said it urgently needs 58 million US dollars in cash donations to buy food locally to feed almost the entire population of northern Uganda, who have been living for years in 135 overcrowded and unsanitary camps after fleeing their homes for fear of attacks by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

    "Ninety percent of the displaced in Uganda heavily depend on WFP food and nutritional assistance for their survival," said Daly Belgasmi, director of WFP's Geneva liaison office on his return from a week-long visit to Uganda.

    WFP is one of the only providers of humanitarian aid in northern Uganda, where the 19-year conflict with the LRA has wreaked havoc on the lives of the population. The IDPs live in extreme poverty with minimal access to the most basic needs, including food, clothing, medicine, and proper sanitation.

    A report from a recent health and mortality survey conducted bythe Ministry of Health of Uganda with technical support from the World Health Organization concluded that the death rates for hundreds of thousands of children displaced by the conflict in northern Uganda remain above the emergency threshold.

    The survey, supported by WFP, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Population Fund and International Rescue Committee found that among the IDPs, 80 percent of whom are women and children, the estimated crude mortality rate and the under-five mortality rate were above one death per 10,000 per day and two deaths per 10,000 per day, respectively.

    "Without continued WFP support to the IDPs through mid 2006, malnutrition rates, particularly among children, would likely sky rocket," WFP country director ken Davies was quoted as saying.

    "WFP, in collaboration with the government, and nongovernmetnalorganizations, is doing all it can to ensure that the nutritional needs of the displaced continue to be met but additional funding from the international community is imperative if we are going to be able to maintain this positive trend," the press release added.Enditem