The world is no longer moving towards Zero Hunger. Progress has stalled, reversed, and today, up to 270.5 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure or at high risk in 2021, driven by conflict, economic shocks, natural disasters, and the socio-economic fallout from COVID-19. Urgent action and immediate support are needed to address and prevent famine for millions of people and avert catastrophic outcomes, including wide-scale food assistance cuts for refugees and other vulnerable people.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is taking a leadership role, working with partners globally and nationally to meet people’s emergency food and nutrition needs and reduce the structural vulnerabilities that underpin them – by strengthening the capacity of individuals, communities, and governments, improving livelihoods, building resilience and reinforcing national social protection systems.
The June update provides the latest information, figures, and a snapshot of how WFP is implementing the Global Operational Response Plan, by:
- Warning of the drivers and multiplying risks that have resulted in surging food insecurity and deepening hunger, with 41 million people at risk of falling into famine in 43 countries, and 584,000 people likely to face famine-like conditions in Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen in 2021.
- Setting out how WFP is responding through humanitarian action, development assistance and technical support to national governments – working to scale up lifesaving food and nutrition assistance, enhance prevention, and strengthen global and national partnerships.
- Identifying WFP’s Operations of Highest Concern, where the scale and severity of food and nutrition insecurity, the scale of WFP’s operational requirements, and the urgency of funding gaps intersect, along with providing a detailed country-by-country overview across WFP’s operations.
Despite mounting operational requirements, the 2021 global contribution forecast covers just 55 percent of WFP’s current operational requirements of US$ 15.3 billion. For the next six months alone, WFP still requires US$ 4.5 billion to cover needs from June to November 2021.
