News releases

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is working tirelessly to meet the needs of millions of hungry Yemeni children, women and men who are threatened by a potential famine because of conflict. Our operational independence, impartiality and neutrality are paramount if we are to succeed and we need immediate and unrestrained access to the hungry so that we can reach those who need us most.

Lilongwe, 20 May 2019: As the Malawi Floods Emergency responses enters its second-phase running from April to June, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has provided an additional £1.6m million (USD 2.06 million) to UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), Concern Worldwide and GOAL to support recovery efforts of families displaced by floods in the southern region. This includes provision of cash transfers so that communities can withstand future shocks, nutrition support, seeds for the winter crop, prevention of post-harvest losses for smallholder farmers, rehabilitation of boreholes and continued support to mobile clinics.

OUDOMXAY, LAOS – The World Food Programme (WFP) today handed over its school feeding programme in more than 500 schools to the Government of Laos. The ceremony was held at the Bor village school in Oudomxay, where WFP provides 40,000 plates of food per year to the school’s 200 students.

FAO, IFAD and WFP conclude three-day visit to see nutrition programmes

16 May 2019, Vientiane – The heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) today concluded a joint visit to the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) with a call for greater investment in nutrition.

KHARTOUM – The United Kingdom is contributing £3 million (approximately US$3.9 million) to support the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in providing cash assistance for vulnerable communities in Darfur and running the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) across Sudan.

EAST JERUSALEM – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of €4 million (US$4.5 million) from the Government of Germany which will help meet the most pressing food needs of vulnerable, non-refugee communities across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

VIENTIANE - A large shipment of rice, lentils and oil donated by the United States arrived at the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Vientiane warehouse on May 10, 2019, where U.S. Ambassador to Lao PDR Rena Bitter received the goods.

JERUSALEM – The Government of Canada has provided the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) with a contribution of CAD$3.2 million (approximately US$2.4 million) to support 128,000 vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

BEIRA/MAPUTO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a contribution of US$ 6.9 million from the Government of Japan for the provision of food assistance to cyclone- and flood-affected people in Mozambique. The devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai, which made landfall north of Beira, Sofala province, on 14 March, left 1.85 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Rome – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US$240 million contribution from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to support the food needs of vulnerable people in Yemen

HARARE – The Italian Government has contributed €250,000 to respond to the needs of communities affected by Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe. The contribution, provided to the World Food Programme (WFP), will support immediate food needs in the worst-affected areas of the country.

ROME – As a precautionary measure, the World Food Programme (WFP) has temporarily halted distribution worldwide of a fortified blended food from one of its suppliers as tests continue to establish whether it is linked to outbreaks of illness in East Africa.

UN report finds worryingly low food consumption, limited dietary diversity and families being forced to cut meals or eat less

3 May 2019, PYONGYANG/ROME – A United Nations food security assessment in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has found that following the worst harvest in 10 years, due to dry spells, heatwaves and flooding, about 10.1 million people suffer from severe food shortages, meaning they do not have enough food until the next harvest.

ISLAMABAD – The National Fortification Alliance (NFA) of Pakistan, with technical support from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and funding from the Australian Government launched a pilot project to fight malnutrition by fortifying wheat flour in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. This project will support chakkis (small-scale grinders) to mill flour that is rich in micronutrients that are key to keeping families healthy.

BEIRUT – Today, 500 students graduated from German-funded digital skills courses at Lebanon’s American University of Beirut (AUB). They marked the completion of the programme, which is organised by the World Food Programme (WFP), with a ceremony at the Beirut campus attended by the German Ambassador, Dr. Georg Birgelen.

ABUJA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is set to expand its support to humanitarian and development programmes in Nigeria – based on a new Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for the next four years (2019-2022).

BANJUL: The Gambia has reiterated its commitment to promote school feeding as a foundation for development and prosperity, during celebrations to mark the fourth edition of the Africa Day of School Feeding held under the patronage of the country’s First Lady, H.E Fatoumata Bah Barrow today.

HARARE – The Government of Japan contributed US$350,000 to respond to emergency needs in Zimbabwe following Cyclone Idai. The contribution, provided to the World Food Programme, will support immediate food needs in the worst-affected areas of the country.

BEIJING – – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and China’s Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) have agreed to collaborate towards strengthening emergency preparedness and response capacity.

April 25th, 2019, Panama City. – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that prolonged droughts and heavy rain have destroyed more than half of the maize and bean crops of the subsistence farmers along the Central American Dry Corridor, leaving them without food reserves and affecting their food security.

KABUL – A ceremony was held here today in recognition of a US$16 million (₩18.3 billion; AFN1.24 billion) contribution from the Republic of Korea to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan. It was attended by representatives from the Republic of Korea, the Afghanistan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and WFP.

‘Famine Likely’: new classification to boost warning

Rome, Italy, 25 April 2019 - New global guidelines published today by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative will further hone food security and nutrition analysis processes for better and more actionable information during humanitarian crises.

GOMA – As the Democratic Republic of Congo grapples with the second largest ever Ebola outbreak, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the resources needed to support its work are not keeping pace with the recent increase in transmission and the potential risk of the virus spreading within DRC and to neighbouring countries.