News releases

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).

ROME – Tomorrow marks the eighth anniversary of the start of the Syria conflict.

BANGUI – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an airlift operation to deliver life-saving food supplies to 18,000 people in Zemio, 1000 km East of the capital Bangui. The region is on the brink of a severe food and nutritional crisis, due to a combination of insecurity and transport infrastructure challenges, which hamper humanitarian access to the area.

Sana’a, Yemen – The United Nations World Food Programme has hailed a breakthrough in its emergency operation in Yemen after managing to reach the Red Sea Mills in Hodeidah for the first time in six months.

SANA’A, Yemen – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed US$30.4 million in funding from Japan to provide food and nutrition assistance for over three million vulnerable people in Yemen, bolstering WFP’s efforts to alleviate the country’s humanitarian crisis.

22 February 2019, Juba - Nearly 7 million people in South Sudan could face acute food insecurity at the height of this lean season (May-July), three United Nations agencies warned today, urging for scaled-up humanitarian assistance and better access to humanitarian relief.

A new report to the UN Security Council shines a spotlight on hunger in conflict zones

JERUSALEM – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have signed a new agreement to provide 6,000 of the most vulnerable families in the Gaza Strip with blankets, clothing and hygiene kits.

JUBA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US$7 million contribution from the People’s Republic of China to bolster its food and nutrition assistance in South Sudan where about 5 million people are unable to meet their food needs.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is demanding an immediate end to the diversion of humanitarian food relief in Yemen after uncovering evidence of the practice in the capital, Sana’a, and other parts of the country controlled by the Ansarullah (Houthi) movement.

NIAMEY – A generous contribution of €4 million from the European Commission (ECHO) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) allowed the United Nations World Food Programme to provide food assistance and nutrition support to displaced and vulnerable people in the Diffa, Tahoua and Tillabery regions of Niger in 2018.

ABUJA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a contribution of US$500,000 from the Republic of Korea that will provide one month of food assistance for nearly 125,000 food-insecure people in the conflicted-affected northeast Nigerian states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

Kinshasa - With widening violence, largescale displacement, poor harvests and endemic poverty nearly doubling the number of acutely food insecure people in DRC this year to 13.1 million, the World Food Programme (WFP) significantly expanded its operations, reaching a record 5 million, a twofold increase from 2017.

JERUSALEM – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is facing a severe funding shortfall in Palestine that will affect some 193,000 of the poorest people in Gaza and the West Bank as of January 2019.

BANGUI –The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) that enables aid workers to deploy to reach tens of thousands of people in need in the Central African Republic (CAR) is at risk of shutting down due to a shortage of funds, the World Food Programme (WFP) that manages the service warned today.