ISLAMABAD, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has begun providing monthly food rations to families returning home to Pakistan's tribal areas following the recent upsurge in fighting in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

    More than two million people have been displaced by the conflict and small numbers are only just beginning to return to their villages, according to a WFP press release here Wednesday.

    "WFP is providing a lifeline to those who have been forced to abandon their homes due to heavy fighting," said WFP Pakistan Country Representative Wolfgang Herbinger. "We began feeding them at the start of this crisis when they fled their villages, and for those who feel ready to go back to their homes, we're providing the assistance they need to bring stability back to their lives."

    Food rations for those returning to their homes are being distributed at a humanitarian hub in the Bajaur tribal agency where WFP has pre-positioned enough supplies to feed 2,000 families. Distributions are being closely coordinated with local authorities and are being distributed through a local partner non-governmental organization.

    While WFP is gearing up its program to meet the needs of the returnees, its food assistance operation remains focused primarily on the needs of the vast majority who are still living in camps or host communities away from their home villages. Since the start of the crisis, food assistance and other aid has been delivered through a network of humanitarian hubs that have been established close to the areas where the largest number of people have been displaced.

    WFP is currently reaching 100,000 beneficiaries every day through 35 humanitarian hubs and 10 distribution points within camps. Since the beginning of June it has provided food rations to approximately 1.5 million people. The agency has sufficient supplies for the next two months despite a 51-percent funding shortfall in its 162-million-dollar emergency operation in Pakistan.

    WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency and the U.N.'s frontline agency for hunger solutions. In 2009, WFP aims to feed 105 million people in 74 countries.

Special Report: Pakistani Situation