NEW YORK – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, addressed the United Nations Security Council today on the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security. Here are selected highlights from his remarks: “We truly are in an unprecedented crisis. Food pricing is our number one problem right now, as […]
World Food Programme
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No rain and no resources; millions of families across the Horn of Africa pushed closer to catastrophe each day
NAIROBI – Desperately needed rains across the Horn of Africa have so far failed to materialise, almost a month into the current rainy season, and if these conditions continue, along with stagnant and even decreasing humanitarian aid, the number of hungry people due to drought could spiral from the currently estimated 14 million to 20 million […]
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WFP forced to cut food assistance in Yemen, warns of impact as hunger rises
SANA’A, December 22, 2021 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today that it is running out of funds to continue to provide food assistance to13 million people in Yemen. From January, eight million will receive a reduced food ration, while five million at immediate risk of slipping into famine conditions will remain […]
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Acute food insecurity soars to five-year high warns Global Report on Food Crises
ROME – The number of people facing acute food insecurity and needing urgent life and livelihood-saving assistance has hit a five-year high in 2020 in countries beset by food crises, an annual report launched today by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) – an international alliance of the UN, the EU, governmental and non-governmental agencies […]
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WFP appeals for 600 million dollars as hungry Syrians hang by a thread after 10 years of conflict
CAIRO – As a critical conference opens in Brussels on the future of war-ravaged Syria, the United Nations World Food Programme is appealing for the funds it needs to provide urgent food assistance to millions of Syrians who today face the worst humanitarian conditions since the start of the conflict. A record 12.4 million people […]
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Pandemic derails historic advances in children’s access to school meals
ROME – The COVID-19 pandemic risks reversing a decade of hard-won gains in global efforts to provide nutritious food to the world’s most vulnerable children through a free daily meal in school, the United Nations World Food Programme said in a report released today. One in two schoolchildren, or 388 million children worldwide, were receiving […]
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New report shows hunger is due to soar as coronavirus obliterates lives and livelihoods
ROME July 17, 2020 – A new report published today shows that people in some 25 countries are set to face devastating levels of hunger in coming months due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the greatest concentration of need is in Africa, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the Middle […]
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As more go hungry and malnutrition persists, achieving Zero Hunger by 2030 in doubt, UN report warns
Rome, 13 July 2020 – More people are going hungry, an annual study by the United Nations has found. Tens of millions have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished over the past five years, and countries around the world continue to struggle with multiple forms of malnutrition. The latest edition of the State of […]
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World Food Programme to assist largest number of hungry people ever, as coronavirus devastates poor nations
ROME June 29, 2020 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced a massive rise in the number of hungry people it plans to assist around the world, as the devastating socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic push millions more people into food insecurity in low- and middle-income countries. “The frontline in the battle […]
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Urgent international support needed to prevent millions of desperate Zimbabweans plunging deeper into hunger
HARARE April 8, 2020 – With Zimbabwe’s already severe climate- and recession-induced hunger crisis deepening and COVID-19 taking hold, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) urgently needs US$130 million to sustain through August an emergency operation to prevent millions of the country’s most vulnerable people plunging deeper into hunger. A recent nationwide assessment – […]
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UN agencies raise alarm in the Central Sahel where millions face hunger amid rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis
DAKAR February 3, 2020 – The number of people facing a critical lack of food and vital livelihood opportunities in the Central Sahel has spiked in one year due to rising insecurity and climatic shocks. The situation may further deteriorate unless the international community acts now, three United Nations agencies warned today. Despite an overall satisfactory […]
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Seven WFP staff members died in the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy
ROME, March 10, 2019 – Statement of WFP Executive Director David Beasley Today is a profoundly sad one for the World Food Programme, as we are in mourning for the seven WFP staff members who lost their lives this morning in the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy. The United Nations Secretary General called me to express his […]
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Climate risk insurance: Germany supports new initiative
ROME September 19, 2018 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has signed its first climate risk insurance policy with the Africa Union’s African Risk Capacity (ARC). The policy is called ARC Replica, a new type of cover offered by ARC which has been providing extreme weather insurance since 2014. The initiative is being […]
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WFP Launches Food Assistance for Ebola-affected People in Democratic Republic of Congo
MBANDAKA June 7, 2018 – Distributions of World Food Programme rations have begun in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Ebola-hit Equateur Province as part of an effort to support those directly affected by the latest outbreak of the deadly virus and limit risky population movements. Families of Ebola patients discharged from treatment centres, and […]
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WFP: More Than Half Of Iraq’s Population At Risk Of Food Insecurity
BAGHDAD, April 10, 2017 – More than half of Iraqi families are at risk of food insecurity and can no longer absorb any further shocks such as conflict or increases in basic food prices, a joint WFP-Iraqi Government food security report said today. The report, one of the most robust technical food security studies ever […]
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Luxembourg And WFP Sign New Partnership Agreement
ROME – Luxembourg and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have signed a four-year agreement, confirming the long-standing partnership between the Grand Duchy and the UN’s frontline organization working towards zero hunger globally by 2030. The agreement between Luxembourg and WFP was signed yesterday by Romain Schneider, Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action of […]