News releases

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.

This is a summary of what was said by WFP Somalia Representative and Country Director, El-Khidir Daloum - to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

GENEVA – The new data (for Somalia), alongside the projection of famine in Baidoa and Burhakaba that we heard last week, is absolutely a call to action. It’s a final warning to the world not to turn away from Somalia.

BAGHDAD – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a contribution of US$1 million from the Government of the Republic of Korea, which will support the implementation of resilience-building activities aiming at improving sustainable agricultural production in areas affected by salinity in southern Iraq.

Bangkok - For the sixth consecutive year, the United Nations (UN) Rome-based agencies (RBA) - the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) - jointly celebrated the UN Day for South-South Cooperation – an annual event marked on 12 September.

COLOMBO – The first tranche of food assistance pledged by the Government of Japan earlier this year has been provided through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to Sri Lanka, where more than 6 million people – nearly 30 percent of the population, are facing a worsening food crisis.

BISHKEK – The United Nations World Food Programe (WFP) - with funding from the Government of Japan - successfully established a mini-processing workshop to produce high-value essential oils and dried herbs in At-Bashy district in Naryn province.

The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition report shows the world is moving backwards in efforts to eliminate hunger and malnutrition

NB: This is a re-issue of a 23 June 2022 joint FAO-WFP news release. This version corrects the number of people facing acute levels of food insecurity in Cabo Verde.

DAKAR – The number of people affected by food insecurity in Cabo Verde is set to spike with more than 46,000 women, men and children – almost 10 percent of the population - facing an acute deterioration in food security between June and August this year. This represents a threat to the country’s hard-won gains in food security over recent years forcing the Government to declare a social and economic national emergency on 20 June. If not urgently addressed, this will severely disrupt food access and agricultural production, putting more lives at risk as the country depends largely on imports to meet its food needs.

VIENTIANE – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with the Government of Lao PDR and humanitarian partners, met today to discuss achievements and lessons learned from providing food assistance to returning migrant workers through the COVID-19 quarantine centres across the country.

KHARTOUM – A record 15 million people in Sudan – one-third of the population – are currently facing acute food insecurity, the Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment (CFSVA) released by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) shows.

Food insecurity and malnutrition worsen across Somalia as risk of famine increases amid historic fourth failed rainy season.

Mogadishu – A historic fourth consecutive failed rainy season, skyrocketing prices and an underfunded humanitarian response have resulted in a 160 percent increase in people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, starvation and disease in Somalia. With no end in sight for the devastating drought affecting the country, the risk of famine looms larger than ever. An urgent increase in support from the international community is essential to avert famine.

OUAGADOUGOU – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) received an additional EUR 5 million in funding from the European Union (EU) in 2022 to contribute to providing life-saving food assistance to 1.6 million people in Burkina Faso who are unable to meet their basic food needs due to conflict, the impact of climate change, and the socio-economic fallout caused by COVID-19.

CAIRO – The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) and Seven Circles “Empowering through” have launched the ‘Empowering Women through Cooking’ (EWC) cookbook in Egypt.

PHNOM PENH – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is organizing a two-day technical training this week on rice fortification to support the development of in-country fortification capacity - in partnership with Green Trade and the Cambodia Rice Federation.

COLOMBO – The Government of Japan today announced a USD 1.5million (LKR 600 million) funding to help the Government of Sri Lanka respond to the ongoing economic crisis. The funds will be used by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide food assistance to children and families in need of support.

Humanitarian assistance averted a catastrophe in the harsh winter months – but hunger continues across the country at unprecedented levels.

KABUL – 19.7 million people, almost half of Afghanistan’s population, are facing acute hunger according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis conducted in January and February 2022 by Food Security and Agriculture Cluster partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and many NGOs.

The international community calls for a shift towards better prevention, anticipation, and targeting to address the root causes of food crises

ROME – The number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support continues to grow at an alarming rate. This makes it more urgent than ever to tackle the root causes of food crises rather than just responding after they occur. This is a key takeaway from an annual report launched today by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) - an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental agencies working to tackle food crises together.

BAGHDAD – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) together supported 104,500 people from vulnerable communities in Iraq to rebuild their livelihoods after conflict and adapt to climate change, alongside advancing the digitalization of the Public Distribution System for food rations (PDS).

CAIRO – Arab film star, Hend Sabry has visited a climate change adaptation programme run by the Government of Egypt and the World Food Programme (WFP) in her capacity as Goodwill Ambassador for the UN agency.

Dushanbe – A batch of food aid – 948.5 mt of fortified wheat flour – procured with funding from the Russian Federation, has arrived in Tajikistan. The food will be used to prepare hot meals for school children in rural areas as part of WFP-supported school feeding programme.

DILI – Today, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed US$ 1 million contribution from the UN SDG Fund. The funding will enable the three agencies to continue strengthening national food systems and implementing disaster risk reduction activities in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste.

ROME: Four United Nations agencies today announced the forthcoming launch of a new phase of a joint programme that aims to secure rural women’s livelihoods, rights and resilience to advance sustainable development.

DAKAR/ NAIROBI/ JOHANNESBURG – The socioeconomic situation of the urban poor in Sub-Saharan Africa has worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic, with millions of people facing acute food insecurity and malnutrition – a new report shows.

ROME – As climate extremes become more frequent and intense, women and girls - who are at a higher risk than men and boys of experiencing the devastating effects of the climate crisis - including food insecurity, need to be front and centre when planning and implementing climate change adaptation solutions, said three United Nations' food agencies at their joint International Women's Day event today.