News releases

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.

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.

ROME – Efforts by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver desperately needed food supplies to Northern Gaza resumed today but were largely unsuccessful.

NEW YORK – The World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau addressed the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday 27 February on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He was speaking at a High-Level Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.

Here are excerpts of his remarks:

KAMPALA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Uganda welcomes a generous contribution of 2,000 metric tons of rice worth JPY 300 million (USD 2.2 million) from the Government of Japan. The contribution will enable WFP to provide hot meals to 50,000 newly arriving refugees in 2024/2025.

Islamabad, Pakistan – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) supported over 180,000 vulnerable flood-affected people through multipurpose cash interventions in seven districts of the Sindh province in 2023. This critical support was made possible through a EUR 3 million contribution from the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid Operations department.

NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME – In the less than five months that followed the brutal 7 October attacks and the ensuing escalation, tens of thousands of Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed and injured in the Gaza Strip. More than three quarters of the population have been forced from their homes, many multiple times, and face severe shortages of food, water, sanitation and healthcare – the basic necessities to survive.

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.

MUNICH– The World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator, which leverages innovation and technology to tackle food insecurity worldwide, officially opened its new global office today. The opening was followed by the WFP Innovation Accelerator flagship pitch event, an official Munich Security Conference side event – the world's leading forum for debating the most pressing challenges to international security.

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.

NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME, 30 January 2024 – The allegations of involvement of several UNRWA staff in the heinous attacks on Israel on 7 October are horrifying. As the Secretary-General has said, any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable.

CHIȘINĂU - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is collaborating with Moldova’s Minister of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP) to expand its cash assistance, boost the country’s social protection systems, and expedite ongoing sectoral reforms.

KABUL – In the past half year, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was able to provide life-saving food aid to nearly 230,000 hungry people thanks to a grant of US$3.2 million from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund (AHTF) managed by its Trustee, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).

ROME – More than one in four households in Gaza currently face extreme hunger, and there is a risk of famine unless access to adequate food, clean water, health and sanitation services is restored, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today. IPC is a multi-stakeholder platform that analyses data to determine the severity and magnitude of hunger crises, according to internationally-recognized scientific standards.

East Jerusalem – A 46-truck convoy, organized by WFP and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO), on Wednesday carried more than 750 metric tons of life-saving food into Gaza, marking the first time a direct aid convoy from Jordan has reached the Strip since the upsurge in hostilities began on 7 October.

NAIROBI – Devastating floods threaten to worsen food insecurity across eastern Africa as heavy rains lash a region that less than a year ago was in the grips of drought, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

ROME – The resumption of hostilities in Gaza will only intensify the catastrophic hunger crisis that already threatens to overwhelm the civilian population.

ROME – The World Food Programme (WFP) is at COP28 to call for urgent climate action to protect those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The climate crisis is driving hunger across the world with a staggering 57 million people pushed into acute food insecurity by climate extremes last year alone. WFP will showcase solutions to protect those hardest hit by climate change, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected areas.

GAZA – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) delivered desperately needed food to more than 120,000 people in Gaza during the initial pause in fighting but has reiterated that the supplies it was able to provide were woefully inadequate to address the level of hunger seen by staff in the UN shelters and communities.

Yerevan, ARMENIA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a grant of US$1.1 million from the United States Government, made possible through USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). This timely contribution will enable WFP to provide essential emergency food assistance to refugees residing in Armenia.

Rome – To make a dent in spiralling global hunger, the world must rapidly scale up protection for vulnerable people on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today, a week before world leaders meet in Dubai for the next UN Climate Summit, COP28. Last year alone, climate extremes pushed a staggering 56.8 million people into acute food insecurity.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is activating its revamped approach to operations in Ethiopia, a major step which will start to reach 3.2 million people with food assistance for the first time since June 2023. WFP food aid was suspended nationwide following reports of large-scale diversions earlier this year.

NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME, 16 November 2023 – As humanitarian leaders, our position is clear: We will not participate in the establishment of any ”safe zone” in Gaza that is set up without the agreement of all the parties, and unless fundamental conditions are in place to ensure safety and other essential needs are met and a mechanism is in place to supervise its implementation.

PORT VILA: In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Lola, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), with the support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, is working with Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to enhance humanitarian response and logistics coordination. This joint effort aims to ensure that people affected by the cyclone receive timely and essential assistance.