News releases

Beira - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today launched a joint voucher programme in Dondo district in Sofala province to address the essential food, hygiene, and household needs of vulnerable families affected by Cyclone Idai, which left a trail of devastation across Mozambique in March 2019.

KHARTOUM - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a top-up contribution of €7 million, following the €6 million provided to WFP in 2018. Funding will support emergency operations in Sudan from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO).

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.

Monaragala – The Government of Sri Lanka, together with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), today launched a three-year, LKR 106 billion (US$ 6 million) project to build resilience of communities against the impact of natural disasters.

ROME – The Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, will visit Burkina Faso on 12-14 August. The country is dealing with an unfolding humanitarian crisis resulting from a sharp increase in armed violence.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme welcomes important, positive steps taken by the Sana’a-based authorities on safeguards to ensure humanitarian food assistance reaches the most vulnerable children, women and men in areas of Yemen under their control.

BUJUMBURA – The Government of Japan has contributed US$1 million to help prevent chronic malnutrition and support vulnerable families with pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under two years in Burundi’s northern province of Kirundo.

ROME-LONDON – Humanitarian agencies are setting up innovative climate risk insurance policies to protect up to 1.3 million people in West Africa from catastrophic drought. The countries benefitting include Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and the Gambia.

MBABANE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes the Japanese Government contribution of US$ 500,000 that will enable WFP to provide food assistance to some 55,000 vulnerable children in Eswatini.

ALGIERS – The Government of Germany has contributed €1 million (US$1.1 million) to cover the basic food needs of Sahrawi refugees the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is assisting in Algeria.

KAMPALA – Irish Aid today committed critical funding to enable the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to assist nearly 150,000 school children in Karamoja and over 1 million refugees in 13 refugee settlements across the country.

LILONGWE - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi is deeply concerned about the worsening food situation for approximately 40,000 refugees and asylum-seekers following a cut in the amount of food assistance they receive. WFP urgently requires US$1.7 million to resume full rations from August to December 2019.

TEHRAN – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today received additional contributions for flood relief operations in support of nearly 12,400 people for one month in Iran’s Lorestan province.

TEGUCIGALPA – The Federal Republic of Germany contributed €1 million (US$1.1 million) to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), supporting emergency food assistance to more than 16.000 families severely affected by the drought in the Dry Corridor of Honduras

NEW YORK/GENEVA/KINSHASA/ROME - “Tomorrow, 1 August, marks one year since the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in North Kivu province of the DRC. Two weeks ago, it was declared a public health emergency of international concern.

BEIRUT – A new financial contribution from the European Union (EU) confirmed today will allow UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the World Food Programme (WFP) to continue life-saving humanitarian support for 358,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in Lebanon until April 2020.

MANAGUA –The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has contributed €1 million (US$1.3 million) to the World Food Programme (WFP), which will support the purchase of additional food to complement existing school meals in 2,000 public schools in Nicaragua.

LUXEMBOURG – The ability of humanitarian responders to communicate and exchange information in emergency settings is vital to ensuring lives are saved, and that the needs of disaster-hit communities are met rapidly and effectively.

CAIRO - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the European Union (EU) today celebrated their five-year-long partnership in Egypt during which they have assisted more than 2.3 million people in collaboration with the Egyptian Government.

More than 820 million people are hungry globally

15 July 2019, New York – An estimated 820 million people did not have enough to eat in 2018, up from 811 million in the previous year, which is the third year of increase in a row. This underscores the immense challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030, says a new edition of the annual The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report released today.

NAKIVALE, Uganda – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed an important contribution of 5,000 metric tons of rice from the Government of the Republic of Korea to WFP’s refugee support operations in Uganda, which will help feed more than 200,000 refugees.

DHAKA - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their contribution of 300 metric tons of dates to support schoolchildren and their families in Bangladesh. The contribution was acknowledged at a handover ceremony this week at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attended by Mohamed Askar of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSRelief) and Alpha Bah, WFP Deputy Country Director in Bangladesh.

LUXEMBOURG – Luxembourg has contributed €500,000 ($556,180) to support emergency telecommunications being provided by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Libya through the humanitarian community’s Emergency Telecommunications Sector.