News releases

JOHANNESBURG – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of EUR 3 million from the European Union (EU) to support the continuation of nutritional support and services to the most vulnerable urban communities in Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Latest Hunger Hotspots report urges immediate action to prevent famine and warns of La Niña-linked climate extremes

ROME – Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 18 hunger “Hotspots”, a new United Nations early warning report has revealed today. The report spotlights the urgent need of assistance to prevent famine in Gaza and the Sudan, and further deterioration in the devastating hunger crises in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan. It also warns of the lingering impact of El Niño and the looming threat of La Niña that risks bringing further climate extremes that could upend lives and livelihoods.

Pretoria, 5 June 2024 - More than 30 million people across Southern Africa have been affected by a severe drought. Millions could be pushed into acute hunger unless support is urgently mobilized to scale before the next lean season, warn the United Nations (UN) and partners.

PORT-AU-PRINCE – After more than two months of blockages due to violent clashes between armed groups, WFP has made important progress, delivering truckloads of food to the highly vulnerable neighbourhood of Cité Soleil – host to pockets of catastrophic hunger (IPC phase 5) in late 2022 - and also resuming use of the international airport at Port-au-Prince for humanitarian passenger and cargo flights.

DHAKA—Starting June 1, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will partially increase food rations for all Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar camps, raising the entitlement from US$10 to US$11 per person per month. This marks the second increase this year and a step closer to reaching the full ration target of US$12.50 by August.

GENEVA/NEW YORK/ROME: Three United Nations agencies today issued a stark warning that all indications point to a significant deterioration of the nutrition situation for children and mothers in war-torn Sudan. The lives of Sudan’s children are at stake and urgent action is needed to protect an entire generation from malnutrition, disease and death.

ANTIGUA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today called for urgent global support for small island nations disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, including many now bracing for what is expected to be an intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane season. The announcement came as the 4th International Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference concluded today in the Caribbean twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

DAKAR – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) - with the support of the School Meals Coalition and the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) - have concluded a three-day regional technical conference on Homegrown School Meals in West Africa.

PORT SUDAN/NAIROBI – The UN World Food Programme warns that the window to save lives is closing as famine looms in Sudan’s war-torn regions with civilians trapped by intensified fighting in northern Darfur; the rainy season set to start in the coming month making critical transport routes inaccessible; and as the lean season - when food stocks run out and hunger peaks – hits.  

PORT SUDAN – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that time is running out to prevent starvation in Darfur as intensifying clashes in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher hinder efforts to deliver vital food assistance into the region.

KAMPALA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of US$11 million from USAID, on behalf of the American people. This additional funding brings USAID’s total support for refugees in Uganda to nearly $83 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2023. The funding provides life-saving unconditional monthly general food assistance to over 1.3 million refugees across 13 settlements in Uganda.

Rarotonga, Cook Islands: The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking a major advancement in disaster risk financing initiatives for the Pacific region. The MoU was signed by PCRIC's CEO, Aholotu Palu, and the WFP Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Carl Skau.

Thank you, Mr. President, thank you for this opportunity to brief the Council on the rapidly worsening food security situation in Sudan and the profound regional implications of this crisis.

The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have today launched an action plan to work together in fragile contexts — countries simultaneously affected by economic shocks, and extreme weather, in combination with little or no institutional and government capacity to help people cope. The UN agencies seek to leverage the strengths and expertise of each organization to enhance resilience in fragile environments and improve food security for those who need it most.

ROME – Famine is imminent in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, according to the new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today.

N’DJAMENA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is today warning that life-saving programmes in Chad will grind to a halt in a matter of weeks without urgent funding. The stark warning comes as thousands of Sudanese refugees continue to stream across the border from Darfur, and as the rainy season looms, threatening to cut off road access for humanitarian deliveries to the camps in the east of the country – where around a million Sudanese refugees have sought shelter.

Rome, 07 March 2024 - Investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment is not only more urgent than ever but also an incredibly smart investment to generate economic growth, food security, income opportunities and better lives, particularly in rural areas where most of the world’s poorest live. That will be the message tomorrow on International Women’s Day from leaders at the Rome-based United Nations agriculture and food agencies event - Invest in Women: accelerate progress.

KINSHASA – Ahead of International Women’s Day, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) chief Cindy McCain issued an appeal to the international community for urgent resources and support to respond to the deepening hunger crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where women are bearing a disproportionate burden of this humanitarian emergency.

DAKAR – Amid persistently high humanitarian needs in West and Central Africa, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is calling on governments and partners to safeguard resilience-building programmes that help crisis-affected communities withstand shocks and meet their own food and nutrition needs. This will prevent a reversal of hard-won development gains in the region and help reduce humanitarian needs over time.

ROME – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is pausing deliveries of life-saving food aid to northern Gaza until conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions.

JUBA – At least 25 million people are struggling with soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition as the crisis in Sudan sends shockwaves around the region, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns today, with thousands of families being displaced and forced across borders into Chad and South Sudan each week.

The situation is especially serious in the north, where one in six children under the age of two is acutely malnourished


GENEVA/NEW YORK/ROME, 19 February 2024 – A steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Gaza strip poses grave threats to their health, according to a comprehensive new analysis released by the Global Nutrition Cluster.

KABUL – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of US$3.8 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support Afghans forced to leave Pakistan and return to Afghanistan. The funding will allow WFP to provide cash assistance to nearly 33,000 families or more than 230,000 children, women and men, including persons with disabilities returning to Afghanistan at a time when already one third of the people are going hungry.

ADDIS ABABA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has activated more robust delivery mechanisms to its operations in Ethiopia since late 2023, a significant step in assuring the delivery of critical food assistance to the hungriest populations affected by drought, flooding, and conflict. WFP is now working at pace to deliver food assistance to up to 3 million in Ethiopia in the coming weeks.

DHAKA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is gearing up to restore its critical food assistance for the entire Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar. Starting 1 January 2024, WFP will increase the value of its monthly food voucher from US$8 to US$10 per person.