News releases

NAIROBI – The World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing food to 9,000 families affected by floods in Garissa, Mandera, Tana River, and Turkana counties in coordination with the National Disaster Operations Centre, the Ministry of Devolution and ASALs, and county governments.

ROME – 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.

DAMASCUS – Syrians today face an unprecedented hunger crisis as the prices of basic foods reach levels unseen even at the height of the nine-year conflict and millions of people are pushed deeper into poverty, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said, on the eve of a donors pledging conference for Syria.

ROME – With much of the world’s commercial transport systems, particularly airlines, grounded by COVID-19, WFP - the world’s largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger and a global leader in logistics – has stepped in to move passengers and huge volumes of health and other supplies needed in the fight against the pandemic.

TRIPOLI/TUNIS – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the World Food Programme, WFP, are joining forces in Libya in a project that will aim to reach up to 10,000 food insecure refugees and asylum seekers with emergency food aid this year.

SAN SALVADOR - Damage caused by Tropical Storm Amanda which lashed El Salvador is compounding the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and is set to increase the number of food insecure people in El Salvador, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today.

KHARTOUM – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan received a contribution of US$1 million from the Government of Japan, for the treatment of acute malnutrition of 127,000 infants, mothers and pregnant women in Central and West Darfur states.

HARARE – 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.

YOKOHAMA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of US$7.5 million from the Government of Japan to help support vulnerable people in three East African countries hit by locust swarms feeding off crops.

Islamabad – The Republic of Korea is donating US$200,000 to help the Government of Pakistan respond to the worst locust infestation in more than two decades.

Joint statement by QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Mark Lowcock, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; and David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

MASERU – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes the European Union (EU) contribution of €1.5 million (equivalent to about M24 million) in humanitarian support, enabling WFP to expand ongoing emergency drought assistance to an additional 22,100 people on top of the 77,880 people that are already receiving assistance.

ROME – It will be vastly more cost-effective to support the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to tackle locusts in East Africa now than to help people in the region after their crops have been ruined, said World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley today.

Bangui – The severe humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) requires sustained international attention and an injection of funds to sustain lifesaving operations for people affected by conflict, Chris Nikoi, the Regional Director for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in West and Central Africa warned today.

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON – A record 45 million people - mostly women and children - in the 16-nation Southern African Development Community are gravely food insecure following repeated drought, widespread flooding and economic disarray. As the crisis deepens, the world must step up now to save lives and enable communities to adapt to climate change, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

NASSAU – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing food vouchers to assist 500 of the most vulnerable families living on hurricane-stricken Abaco in the Bahamas, which will allow them to buy the food of their choice and prioritise their needs.

Rome – Escalating hunger needs in sub-Saharan Africa dominate a World Food Programme (WFP) analysis of global hunger hotspots in the first half of 2020 with millions of people requiring life-saving food assistance in Zimbabwe, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central Sahel region in the coming months. The sheer scale and complexity of the challenges in Africa and other regions will stretch the resources and capacity of WFP and other agencies to the limit. Ramping up the humanitarian response will again require the generous support of donor governments to fund the assistance required to save lives and support development.

HARARE – Millions of Zimbabweans pushed into hunger by prolonged drought and economic crisis face an increasingly desperate situation unless adequate funding for a major relief operation materialises quickly, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

MAPUTO - This year, the European Union (EU) contributed nearly €4 million in humanitarian funding to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Mozambique, supporting people affected by Cyclones Idai and Kenneth as well as providing logistics support to the humanitarian community operating in the country.

SANA’A – A massive expansion of humanitarian assistance by the United Nations World Food Programme in Yemen this year has alleviated the worst suffering in Yemen and so far prevented famine, but over 11 million people continue to face a daily struggle to find enough food, according to WFP’s latest food security monitoring data .

ROME/JUBA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is in a race against time to mobilize vital funds to feed millions of people in South Sudan as hunger advances on a population in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Catastrophic flooding over recent months is pushing the country and its people towards a precipice as the year ends amid intense political instability.

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food assistance to 700,000 people. To reach them and deliver common humanitarian services, WFP is appealing for US$62 million.

OUAGADOUGOU – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned of an escalating humanitarian crisis driven by widespread violence and the long-term impact of climate change that has gripped Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries in the Central Sahel region of West Africa. WFP said the humanitarian response needed to be rapidly escalated to protect and save lives in Burkina Faso and the wider region.

Damascus – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says it has so far provided emergency food assistance to more than 300,000 people in Syria as a result of recent military operations in the northeast of the country. Those assisted include people displaced by hostilities and families providing shelter to the displaced. Many fled their homes with little or nothing, finding refuge in schools or with family and friends living further to the south.

SANA’A – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has reached families trapped in Yemen’s Durayhimi City with much-needed humanitarian assistance. This is only the second time in over a year that WFP has been able to reach the town which lies about 20 kms south of the port city of Hodeidah.