WFP’s 2024 Year in Review for Asia and the Pacific highlights a year marked by escalating hunger, driven by conflict, displacement, inflation, and climate-related shocks and stressors. In 2024, 88 million people in the region faced acute food insecurity—more than triple the number in 2019. Countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines were particularly hard-hit, with Bangladesh grappling with the Rohingya refugee crisis, political turmoil and extreme weather events, while the Philippines endured six typhoons in just 25 days.
Amid significant challenges, WFP reached 25 million people across the region through food, cash, and vouchers, while also scaling up anticipatory action and resilience-strengthening programmes. In Bangladesh, WFP launched its largest anticipatory action initiative, supporting people ahead of major floods and cyclones. In Afghanistan, strategic prepositioning of food helped reach remote communities during the harsh winter months. WFP also strengthened national systems, such as Pakistan’s Benazir Income Support Programme and the Philippines’ social protection mechanisms, to deliver timely assistance.
Looking ahead to 2025, WFP needs USD 2.5 billion to continue life-saving interventions and strengthen long-term resilience in the face of worsening humanitarian crises in the region.
