News releases

The United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) humanitarian operations are getting a major boost with an AUD 34.7 million contribution from the Government of Australia. The funding will assist communities across the Indo-Pacific region affected by hunger as a result of conflict, COVID-19, or climate emergencies.

PEMBA, CABO DELGADO – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warns that without urgent funding, one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement crises in northern Mozambique risks becoming a hunger emergency as families continue to flee insurgent violence.

SANA’A – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes EUR 37 million from the European Union (EU) to support the humanitarian response in Yemen and provide emergency food assistance in response to an alarming rise in food insecurity which has left millions on the brink of famine.

JUBA – Cereal production in South Sudan in 2020 rose by seven percent over 2019 levels because of favourable rains. But cereals remained far below average production levels reached before conflict erupted in South Sudan in 2013, a new United Nations report on food security finds.

JUBA – The World Food Programme (WFP) condemns looting of its food assistance and destruction of humanitarian storage units in South Sudan’s Greater Pibor Administrative Area in Greater Jonglei. Violence between armed groups flared up in May, displacing thousands of people and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian agencies to support communities on the brink of famine.

Yerevan, ARMENIA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a EUR 1.3 million contribution from the European Union (EU) to provide cash assistance across Armenia for people affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

SANA’A – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is increasing the level of food assistance in Yemen’s worst hunger hotspots in an effort to prevent a devastating famine. But the agency’s ability to sustain the response to the end of the year remains uncertain.

JERUSALEM – WFP has started providing emergency assistance for more than 51,000 people in north Gaza in response to rising humanitarian needs among families affected by the recent escalation of conflict in the impoverished strip.

ADDIS ABABA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a US$400,000 contribution from the Government of the Republic of Korea to our operations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region to help provide food and nutrition support for thousands of people displaced by conflict.

PEMBA, CABO DELGADO – Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is in the grips of a spiralling crisis as thousands of people flee their homes amidst violence, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

DAKAR – Millions of families in West and Central Africa are growing more hungry and desperate by the day as food prices skyrocket – stoking a widening hunger emergency in a region engulfed by conflict and the socioeconomic fallout from COVID-19, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today, noting that immediate action is required to prevent a catastrophe.

DAMASCUS – After a decade of upheaval, conflict and displacement, Syrians are facing the worst humanitarian conditions since the start of the crisis, with millions of people sliding into hunger in the last year alone, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

ADEN/SANA’A – The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme issued an urgent plea for peace in Yemen and called for funding to help the most vulnerable hungry families as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the country where the worst famine the world has seen in modern history is now looming.

KINSHASA– Reaffirming the United Nations World Food Programme’s commitment to build stronger communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, today, concluded a visit to the country which included a meeting with the Country’s new President, Félix Tshisekedi.

CAIRO – A record 12.4 million Syrians - nearly 60 percent of the population - are now food insecure, according to alarming new national data from the UN World Food Programme (WFP). In just over one year, an additional 4.5 million Syrians have become food insecure.

Humanitarian crisis continues to exert a terrible toll on children, warn FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO

SANA’A/ADEN/ROME/NEW YORK/GENEVA - Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, four United Nations agencies warned today. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment.

OUAGADOUGOU – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a 3.5-million-euro (US$4.2 million) contribution from Italy to provide food assistance and develop early-recovery projects for tens of thousands of people affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso.

Johannesburg - Escalating conflict and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado has left communities completely reliant on humanitarian assistance. According to the Government, attacks by non-state groups have forced more than 565,000 people to flee their homes and villages, abandoning their crops and livelihoods.

NEW YORK – The World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, addressed United Nations Security Council today on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Here are selected highlights from his remarks:

SEOUL/DAKAR – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a $US500,000 contribution from the Government of the Republic of Korea to our operations in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, which will help support the emergency response in Central Sahel, and provide school meals for thousands of young pupils.

DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Syria welcomes a generous donation of US$20 million from the Russian Federation to provide food assistance for up to 2.3 million Syrians – including nutritional support for mothers and children.

MAPUTO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of SEK 30 million (US$3.5 million) from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) to help meet the food and nutrition needs of people affected by the conflict in Cabo Delgado.

OUAGADOUGOU – A donation of € 4.2 million from the European Union (EU) contributed to WFP’s efforts to stave off a hunger catastrophe in Burkina Faso, where 2 million people are struggling to feed themselves due to the combined effects of conflict, climate shocks and the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Levels of hunger reach record levels, requiring urgent action

SANA’A/ROME/NEW YORK – The window to prevent famine in Yemen is narrowing as new figures reveal record highs of acute food insecurity in the country, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warned today.

KHARTOUM - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for US$24.6 million to meet the immediate needs of Ethiopian refugees seeking safety in Sudan. The conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that escalated on 4 November, has forced more than 30,000 Ethiopians to flee across the border into Sudan.