News releases

One in five children under five in parts of Yemen are estimated to be acutely malnourished and in urgent need of treatment as malnutrition cases increase across the south, UN agencies warn.

ADEN – Acute malnutrition rates among children under five are the highest ever recorded in parts of Yemen, with more than half a million cases in southern districts, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Malnutrition analysis released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and partners.

SANA’A – Yemen is at a tipping point as conflict and economic woes drag the country to the brink of famine and risk cancelling out the gains made through humanitarian action in the past few years, the United Nations World Food Programme warns today.

LONDON – To urge action on addressing the urgent risk of famine, the UK’s first Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs Nick Dyer met the United Nations World Food Programme’s Executive Director David Beasley to jointly call for other countries to step up.

MAPUTO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a donation from the Government of Norway towards emergency operations in the humanitarian crisis-stricken province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique. Norway’s contribution of 10 million Norwegian Kroner (approx. US$1 million) will enable WFP to assist 32,000 Internally Displaced Populations through in-kind food assistance for a period of two months. Ongoing insurgent armed attacks in the northernmost districts of Cabo Delgado province have displaced over 300,000 people as of September 2020, who seeked refuge in Nampula, Niassa and Zambezia provinces.

OUAGADOUGOU – Urgent and sustained action is needed to address worsening food and nutrition insecurity in Burkina Faso, say the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), citing alarming new data. Some 3.3 million people are estimated to be facing acute food insecurity during the current lean season, that period which precedes the harvest in September.

JUBA - Recurring violence in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area in the eastern part of South Sudan has already displaced more than 60,000 people and is crippling the food security and livelihoods of growing numbers of people, two United Nations agencies warned today.

Contains Yemen visual content, data points and quotes for covering the report

Paletwa, MYANMAR – This week the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has commenced distribution of a newly-arrived tranche of 165 tons of emergency food and nutrition assistance for communities affected by conflict in Paletwa Town in remote southern Chin State, which has been largely cut off from regular trade and supply routes for many months.

Kabul – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a new contribution of EUR 3.6 million from the European Union (EU) that will help provide lifesaving assistance to the most vulnerable Afghans affected by natural and man-made disasters.

Geneva/ Rome - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the World Food Programme (WFP) are warning that severe underfunding, conflict and disasters – as well as supply chain challenges, rising food prices and loss of income due to COVID19 - threaten to leave millions of refugees across Africa without food.

OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, WHO, IOM

(New York/Geneva/Rome, 13 May 2020) Conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic present a significant threat to life in Libya. The health and safety of the country’s entire population are at risk.

YOKOHAMA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a total of US$11.7 million in funding from the Government of Japan to provide vital food and nutrition assistance to the vulnerable populations in the Central Sahel affected by escalating armed conflict and severe impacts of climate change.

Paletwa, MYANMAR – Following persistent efforts, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has successfully obtained access and delivered food to people affected by ongoing armed conflict in Samee Town of Paletwa Township in Chin State.

180,000 people in Kivu provinces to benefit as German Government expands its support to communities weakened by conflict, agricultural and climate shocks

4 March 2020, Kinshasa – The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through the German Development Bank KfW, has contributed EUR 50 million (USD 54 million) to a resilience building programme to be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Bangui - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of JPY 164,205,000 (US$1.5 million) from the Government of Japan to provide food and nutritional assistance to people affected by the violence in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.).

CAIRO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) continues to provide emergency food assistance to people in desperate need in northwest Syria despite escalating hostilities which this week caused a 24-hour break in distributions.

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.

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.

DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has so far provided immediate food assistance to more than 70,000 people fleeing towns in northeastern Syria as military operations continue. WFP is deeply concerned about the safety of civilians caught in the violence and urges that vital supply routes be kept open and safe for humanitarian deliveries.

DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a new contribution of EUR 8 million from the European Union (EU). The funds will enable WFP to continue its lifesaving food assistance operations in Syria.

BUNIA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is ramping up an already sizeable relief operation for conflict-displaced people in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following renewed inter-ethnic violence that has forced tens of thousands more from their homes.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme has started a partial suspension of food assistance operations in areas of Yemen under the control of the Sana’a-based authorities. The decision was taken as a last resort after lengthy negotiations stalled on an agreement to introduce controls to prevent the diversion of food away from some of the most vulnerable people in Yemen.

A report presented today jointly by the European Union, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) finds that that around 113 million people in 53 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2018, compared to 124 million in 2017

Abuja, Nigeria – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of US$2 million from the Government of Japan that will provide life-changing support to people and communities affected by insecurity in northeastern Nigeria.

DAMASCUS – Contributions from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) have played a major role in providing emergency assistance to conflict-affected families in Syria, says the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).