Less than half of the 115 million U.S. dollars needed to help Nepalese communities cope with food shortages and the 2008 Koshi flood that displaced thousands of people has been funded, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his report to the Security Council released here on Tuesday.

So far, 44 percent of the requested 115 million dollars has been appropriated, the report said, mostly for food assistance.

Food insecurity is pervasive in Nepal with 41 percent of the population undernourished, according to the World Food Program. The problem has only been exacerbated by natural disasters, such as the Koshi floods in Sunsari and Saptari Districts of last year that displaced 42,807 Nepalese.

With a population of approximately 27 million people, Nepal is experimenting with former guerrillas taking the head seat of the nation's democratically elected government after an 11-year civil war.

Approximately, 19,000 guerilla personnel are slowly being integrated into the Nepal Army and into society. During the decade- long insurgency, the guerrillas were ordered to fight the former King's Royal Nepalese Army, creating uneasiness between the two sides which now must work along side each other, reports said.