News releases

BAGHDAD – Basrah Gas Company (BGC) and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) have signed an agreement aiming to support local farmers in the Al Zubair district in Basrah through a climate change adaptation initiative which sets out to increase their incomes and boost agricultural production.

NOUAKCHOTT – The Government of Japan's US$2 million (over 79 million ouguiyas) funds in 2023 allowed the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Mauritania to provide food assistance to more than 65,000 vulnerable Malian refugees in the Mbera camp.

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.

KABUL – In the past one and a half year, the Government of India has donated a 50,000 metric tons of wheat grains to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan. This donation has enabled WFP to support more than one million people this year, and 4.7 million people in 2022.

FREETOWN – The Federal Republic of Germany through its Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has provided EUR 10 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for the provision of nutritious meals to 25,300 primary school children in Karene district, northern Sierra Leone.

DHAKA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomes a new contribution of US$87 million from the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance of the United States Agency for International Development. This timely funding will significantly bolster WFP’s efforts in providing lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char Island, where nearly 1 million people are facing daily hardships, without an immediate prospect of a safe return to Myanmar. Thanks to the unwavering support of the United States and the rest of the donor community, WFP will increase its food assistance from US$8 to US$10 and add fortified rice to the food basket in Cox's Bazar in January 2024.

SANA’A – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announces the pause of General Food Distributions (GFD) in areas of Yemen under the Sana'a Based Authorities' (SBA) control, driven by limited funding and the absence of an agreement with the authorities on a smaller programme that matches available resources to the neediest families. 

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.

KYIV – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) today signed agreements with oblasts to support daily school meals for more than 60,000 children in 420 schools across the country.

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.

ROME – Today, Cindy McCain, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) and Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the President of the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP28), called for urgent action to scale up climate action in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

VIENTIANE – The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare today announced an expansion of its activities to improve community and government capacities in disaster risk reduction in the north of the country. Nearly 16,000 people in four districts of Oudomxay and Phongsaly province will benefit from this cooperation implemented by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), under the leadership of the Ministry and with support from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

LILONGWE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes an additional EUR 500,000 (MWK 623 million) contribution from the Government of France, which will be used to provide home-grown school meals for children and food assistance to refugees in Malawi. This brings France’s contribution to WFP in Malawi to EUR 1 million in 2023 (MWK 1.2 billion).

KABUL– After a slew of massive earthquakes in Afghanistan that left tens of thousands of people in desperate need in Herat province, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently appealing for US$19 million to provide emergency food assistance to 100,000 people.

PRAIA – The Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) has generously contributed US$ 1 million to provide daily nutritious meals to 90,000 school children in Cabo-Verde during the 2023-2024 school year. This contribution comes from ECOWAS’ Regional Food Security Reserve built up in February 2013 to respond to food security crises across the region. It complements the efforts already made by ECOWAS and its partners, as well as those already undertaken by the Government of Cabo Verde.

ROME – To make more progress in the fight against hunger, the world needs to make at-risk communities less vulnerable to climate shocks and other emergencies, the UN World Food Programme said today.

NEW DELHI: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) facilitated a crucial learning visit for a high-level Nigerian delegation to India. India’s rice fortification journey inspired the delegation of government officials from ministries, health, food security and education departments, food regulatory bodies, and the private sector to advocate for mandatory integration of fortified rice in Nigeria's food-based social safety networks.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Israel and the State of Palestine and the impact of this conflict on the affected populations.

BRASÍLIA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced Brazilian chef, TV personality and businesswoman Rita Lobo, best known on TV and on the internet for her simple-to-follow recipes and charisma, as the organization’s High-Level Supporter in Brazil.

Kabul – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan welcomes a contribution by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of US$100 million. The funding will allow WFP to provide critical food assistance to more than 1.3 million acutely food insecure people across the country for up to one year. A special focus will be on widow- and women-headed households and other highly vulnerable groups like people with disabilities or families surviving solely on begging. For many of these families, WFP has become their last lifeline.

DAKAR – Over a hundred technical experts including government officials, policy makers, donor representatives, and researchers from Education, Agriculture, Gender and Social Protection sectors, from West Africa and beyond today kick-started a meeting in Dakar, Senegal to share knowledge and best practices on the implementation of school meals programmes using locally-sourced food.

More than 25 million people continue to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today. The country continues to be one of the world's largest food crises.

JOHANNESBURG/NEW YORK – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Arab Emirates have signed an agreement to implement an innovative initiative to equip schools in the Southern African region with high-quality digital and hybrid education.

COLOMBO – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) handed over a substantial consignment of 4,700mt of soya beans and maize to Sri Lanka Thriposha Limited, to support the continuation of the Thriposha fortified food programme. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) facilitated the handover at a special event held at the Thriposha factory.

Mr. President, thank you for inviting me to brief the Security Council on the vital importance of partnering with the private sector to address humanitarian needs.