News releases

ROME - Cindy H. McCain joins the United Nations World Food Programme as the new Executive Director today, warning that the world is facing an unparalleled food crisis that requires the Rome-based agency to urgently raise more resources, innovate further, and develop ambitious new partnerships.

SUVA: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)-operated Pacific Humanitarian Air Service transported 15 metric tonnes of critical relief assistance to Port Vila, bolstering the government-led response in Vanuatu after twin cyclones and earthquakes ravaged the country.

2022 Overview highlights the need to focus on trade as an enabler to achieve food security and nutrition

PRAIA – The Government of Japan has contributed US$ 760,000 to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide daily nutritious meals to 90,000 school children in Cabo Verde in 2023.

Kabul – As funding shortfalls force WFP to reduce its lifesaving assistance to four million Afghans, WFP renews its call for urgent and continued support for critical operations in Afghanistan. With severe hunger hitting nearly 20 million Afghans - six million of them one step away from famine - the international community must prioritize the basic needs of the most vulnerable people of Afghanistan.

DAMASCUS – An average monthly wage in Syria currently covers about a quarter of a family’s food needs, the UN World Food Programme said today, highlighting an urgent need for increased humanitarian assistance as the country grapples with the devastating impact of recent earthquakes and a 12-year-long conflict.

Joint US/UN News Release/NIAMEY– The combined effects of conflict, climate shocks, and high food prices continues to drive hunger up and push basic meals out of the reach of millions in Niger, demanding immediate and collective action, United States Ambassador to the UN Agencies in Rome Cindy McCain told journalists at the end of their week-long, U.S.- sponsored field visit to Zinder, Dosso and Tillaberi regions.

FAO-IFAD-WFP push to enhance rural women and girls’ digital capabilities and tackle the barriers they face to access technology to be equal contributors to our agrifood systems.

TRIPOLI/LIBYA – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) – in collaboration with the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Libya – are conducting trainings for 30 Libyan youth as well as Libyan officials and NGO staff on a Japanese management improvement technique to promote economic recovery in Libya.

AWEIL – A contribution of US$288.5 million from the United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will help to support more than two million of the most food-insecure people in South Sudan with life-saving food and nutrition assistance through the 2023 lean season, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced.

CAIRO/ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has stepped up its emergency response to support victims of the devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, providing emergency food assistance to nearly half a million quake-affected people in the two countries through hot meals, emergency ready-to-eat food packages and family food rations.

ANKARA/DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered urgently needed food assistance to 115,000 people in Syria and Türkiye in the first four days since deadly earthquakes struck the region, killing thousands and forcing tens of thousands into the freezing outside temperatures. Distributions are ongoing.

JUBA – A contribution of CAD5.5 million (US$4.1 million) from the Government of Canada will provide more than 23,000 children in South Sudan with access to daily nutritious meals at school, or take-home rations, over the next three years, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today at a signing ceremony.

Official launch by FAO, WFP and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Integrated Acute Food Insecurity Phase Classification Results Study in Lebanon.

KAMPONG CHHNANG & PURSAT – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, with support from KOICA, are this month recognizing the role school cooks play in the school meals programme through a series cooking competitions.

ZANZIBAR – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has today announced the expansion of its programme to Zanzibar, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, some 25 to 50 kilometres off the coast of mainland Tanzania - as part of its new five-year Country Strategic Plan (2022-2027).

LONDON – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced Asma Khan, owner of Darjeeling Express and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, has been appointed WFP Chef Advocate

COLOMBO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Sri Lanka welcomed a contribution of EUR 500,000 (approximately LKR 190 million) from France towards its emergency response for children and families affected by the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. Around 9,000 families facing high levels of food insecurity will receive nutritious foods to help them feed their under-five children.

This is a summary of what was said by Antonella D’Aprile, WFP’s Country Director in Mozambique – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

BENGHAZI – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Libya has welcomed a contribution of 9,000,000 CZK (approx. US$ 355,000) from the Czech Republic to support the rehabilitation of the Food and Drug Control Centre (FDCC) laboratory in Benghazi. Through this project, WFP aims to provide the centre with advanced equipment and technical training to improve its capacity.

COLOMBO, 28 September 2022 – The United States Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome, Ambassador Cindy McCain concluded a two-day official visit to the North Western and Central Provinces of Sri Lanka today. Accompanied by the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, Ambassador McCain visited several projects of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

PRAIA – A week after schools reopened in Cabo Verde, the Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), today, signed an agreement to meet the food and nutrition needs of nearly 90,000 school children through the national school feeding programme.

ROME – School-aged children are bearing the brunt of today’s Global Food Crisis with devastating consequences for their education and their ability to catch up on learning lost during COVID school closures, warn the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the African Union Development Agency NEPAD, and organizations working on education, including the Education Commission chaired by Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

JUBA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is today calling for the safe and secure passage of food and other humanitarian assistance into conflict-affected areas of Upper Nile and Jonglei states, amidst renewed conflict which has displaced thousands of families and left an unknown number of civilians dead or injured.

PHNOM PENH – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with the School Health Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), is launching an innovative social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) campaign to improve the diets of primary school children in Cambodia.