News releases

LILONGWE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of US$1.5 million from USAID on behalf of the American people to provide life-saving food assistance to over 142,000 people and provision of air services in southern Malawi.

N'DJAMENA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warned today that WFP will be forced to make additional cuts to already dwindling food assistance to refugees in April and may face a complete suspension of assistance in May 2023 - without immediate and sustained funding.

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

PORT AU PRINCE – Haitians remain desperate for access to basics including food as a deepening crisis pushes more and more people into hunger. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis reveals a steady increase in the number of acutely hungry people in Haiti – with nearly half the population of Haiti or 4.9 million people now struggling to feed themselves.

BLANTYRE – Prices of staple foods are soaring in Malawi, ten days after Tropical Cyclone Freddy made its second passage over the southern African country, worsening levels of food insecurity as families struggle to meet their food needs.

As needs grow and refugees continue to arrive, UN agencies and partner organizations today appealed for $116 million to provide life-saving assistance to Somali refugees seeking safety in an extremely remote area of Ethiopia’s Somali region.

ROME – Amidst a global food crisis which sees families in many countries struggling to put food on the table, a new report says governments worldwide are increasingly convinced that school meals are a powerful and cost-effective way of ensuring that vulnerable children get the food they need.

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.

ROME – Investing in the health and nutrition of children and adolescents in school is more important than ever as the world grapples with colliding food, climate and learning crises that threaten children and their development, according to a new report.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General Qu Dongyu, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Group (WBG) President David Malpass, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley and World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala issued the following joint statement calling for continued urgent action to address the global crisis on food and nutrition security.

24/01/2023, Bangkok – Asia’s cities are growing at such a fast pace that nearly 55 percent of the region’s enormous population is expected to reside in urban areas by 2030, and that will have equally enormous consequences for urban food security and nutrition, according to the main findings of a new report by four United Nations agencies.

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

The region has the highest cost for a healthy diet compared to the rest of the world, at USD 3.89 per person per day, while the world average is USD 3.54.

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.

DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a recent contribution of EUR 15 million from the European Union to help scale up its assistance to over half a million people in urgent need of food assistance across Syria.

N’DJAMENA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warned today of an imminent cut to food assistance to crisis-affected refugees in Chad unless urgent funding to bridge major funding shortfalls is received imminently.

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.

KINSHASA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has reached some 1.2 million vulnerable people with US$ 17.5 million cash assistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this year thanks in part to a contribution from the European Union (EU).

NADI – A chartered flight bound for Tuvalu left Fiji today carrying 500kg of medical supplies as well as health experts to support the country’s response to its first wave of community transmission of COVID-19. The flight was chartered by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) through its Pacific Humanitarian Air Service.

LILONGWE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a total US$ 4.1 million contribution from the Government of Iceland and the Government of Norway to support thousands of people facing severe hunger at the peak of the lean season in Malawi.

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.

The proportion of people facing severe acute food insecurity is at the highest level ever, surpassing levels seen even during the conflicts in 2013 and 2016.

BEIRUT – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has continued to scale up its assistance in Lebanon as the country suffers from one of the worst economic crises in the world with more than half of the Lebanese population now in need of assistance to cover their food and other basic needs.