ReferenceNumber: No. 440-95

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Responding to a request from the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC), the Department of Defense has arranged to ship 100,000 HumanitarianDaily Rations (HDRs) from Germany to Croatia.

The HDRs will be airlifted from DoD warehouses at the U.S. Army KaiserslauternIndustrial Center, Kaiserslautern, Germany, to an ICRC warehouse in Zagreb,Croatia. The shipment is expected to be completed by August 13, 1995. Thedelivery meets an urgent requirement for the ICRC to provide foodstuffs totransient refugees and displaced populations.

Within the past two weeks, DoD had already approved the movement of 245,000HDRs from Italy to Croatia in response to a request from the United NationsHigh Commissioner of Refugees in Zagreb. That surface shipment has alreadystarted with expected completion also by August 13.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Humanitarian and Refugee AffairsPatricia L. Irvin said the Department, in cooperation with other governmentagencies and within the limits of its resources, understands and strives tofulfill its responsibility to help alleviate suffering throughout the world.

Under the 1986 DoD Authorization Act, HRA is authorized to transportnon-lethal excess property, relief supplies and privately donated cargo to meethumanitarian needs worldwide. Over the past two years, 370 transportationmissions have been accomplished to more than 50 countries.

A fact sheet on HDRs is attached.

HUMANITARIAN DAILY RATION

The Humanitarian Daily Ration (HDR) was specifically designed by the Office ofHumanitarian and Refugee Affairs for use in emergency situations to feed andsustain moderately malnourished people until more traditional feeding methodsare restored. This nutritious, culturally sensitive and cost-effective rationhas drawn praise from the U.N. and the international relief community, and hasemerged as a significant and lasting contributor to the fight against hunger.

The HDR is a pre-packaged, ready-to-eat food ration that provides an entireday's nutritional requirement. Each ration packet contains two main vegetarianmeals which rely heavily on lentils, beans and rice, and complementary itemslike bread, a fruit bar, a fortified biscuit, peanut butter and spices.Weighing in at nearly 2,200 calories, each HDR costs $3.95 and has a shelf lifeof 18 - 24 months.

The HDR packaging is bright yellow for easy identification on the ground whenair-dropped and includes illustrations depicting consumption procedures.Hundreds of thousands of HDR's were first air-dropped over isolated Bosnianenclaves on November 22, 1993, as part of the humanitarian relief effortPROVIDE PROMISE. Since then, the food packets have fed thousands of refugeesworldwide.

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