News releases

Leaders from FAO, IFAD and WFP warn of a deepening crisis in South Sudan without immediate action and investment in resilience.

Juba – The cost of inaction in addressing South Sudan’s complex food, climate, and insecurity crises will be felt in the loss of lives, livelihoods and futures for millions of people across the young nation, the heads of three United Nations agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned today as they wrapped up a three-day visit to the country.

KYIV – The Government of Croatia donated €1 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today to help farmers and food producers resume work in regions most affected by explosive remnants of war.

LILONGWE –The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to cut assistance to more than 51,000 vulnerable refugees by 50 percent as hunger levels deepen at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi.

ABIDJAN, CÔTE D’IVOIRE – The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has formally approved an innovative US$10 million project to empower women in Cote D’Ivoire to manage climate risks effectively.

ROME/COTONOU, BENIN – The ripple effects of Sudan’s war are impacting hunger and migration across West and Central Africa, rapidly depleting scarce resources, further stressing the already underfunded humanitarian response, and exacerbating inter-communal tensions. The spillover will be devastating for peace and stability in a region already facing climate extremes, insecurity, and economic decline, warned the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain as she concludes a visit to Chad, Togo, and Benin.

CAIRO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today that further reductions in food assistance for refugees in Jordan have become unavoidable as funds run precariously low. The food agency is compelled to reduce by one-third the monthly cash assistance for all 119,000 Syrian refugees in Zaatari and Azraq camps.

AMMAN – An unprecedented funding crisis is forcing WFP to significantly scale back its monthly food assistance for the 465,000 refugees it supports in Jordan. Starting in August, WFP will gradually prioritize the poorest families, excluding approximately 50,000 individuals from the assistance, in order to stretch the limited available funding.

Lusaka – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Government of the Republic Zambia have launched a five-year plan targeting nearly 650,000 people. The plan seeks to eliminate hunger, improve nutrition, and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities to food shocks.

DAKAR – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop innovative solutions that help build a more resilient and food secure future for vulnerable communities worldwide.

ADRE, CHAD – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is rapidly scaling up its response on the Chad-Sudan border to support a surge of people fleeing from Sudan. Thousands of people are crossing each day from Sudan’s Darfur region into the small border town of Adré in Chad, with many arriving injured and with harrowing stories of the violence they have escaped.

BISHKEK – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in the Kyrgyz Republic, with financial support from the Government of Switzerland, is launching the Weather Index-Based Insurance Pilot Project, an initiative aiming to strengthen the resilience of rural communities to extreme weather-related risks and shocks.

BOGOTA - The Innovation Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean (HZero) - managed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Colombia - celebrated the conclusion of a programme that supported 10 innovative projects from six countries in the region. Together, these projects are making a positive impact on the lives of over 85,000 people and contributing to Zero Hunger.

DAKAR – In June, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) kicked off a large-scale emergency food and nutrition assistance operation in the Sahel. But a funding crunch means WFP will be able to assist just over half of the 11.6 million initially targeted – leaving millions stranded without aid as the lean season sets in and hunger starts to peak. Mali and Chad will be hit the hardest, with 800,000 people at risk of resorting to desperate measures to cope, including engaging in survival sex, early marriage, or joining non-state armed groups.

Panama – In response to the global hunger crisis and unprecedented humanitarian needs, the European Union (EU) contributed €7.5 million to the World Food Programme’s (WFP) operations in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to assist those worst affected by acute hunger.

NIAMEY – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received a much-needed boost in its efforts to provide vital food and nutrition assistance to crisis-affected populations in Niger. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated an additional US$15 million to aid WFP's mission.

BRIDGETOWN – A recent food security and livelihoods survey conducted by the World Food Programme and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the Caribbean region revealed that 3.7 million people, or 52 percent of the population of the English-speaking Caribbean, remain food insecure. This is a 10 percent decrease when compared to an August 2022 survey, however, it underscored growing financial hardship and challenges due to the rising cost of living in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The programme aims to prevent Ukraine from requiring food assistance in the long term

Kyiv/Rome – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have launched a joint programme in collaboration with mine action partner Fondation Suisse de Déminage (FSD) to support smallholder farmers and rural families most affected by the war.

DAKAR – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)’s efforts to build resilience to climate-related and human-made shocks and stressors have been shown to boost food security, while also strengthening social cohesion and improving the prospects for peace in Burkina Faso and Niger - a new study reveals.

This is a summary of what was said by Tomson Phiri, WFP Spokesperson for Southern Africa - to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

GENEVA, Tuesday, 20 June 2023 – I am here to give you a brief overview of one of the most complex and challenging humanitarian situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

KIGOMA - The United Nations has launched a three-year project to improve communities’ resilience to climate shocks in the Kigoma region – where hundreds of thousands of refugees are hosted.

Bamako – With a US$ 3 million (XOF 1.7 billion) contribution received from the Government of Japan, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will provide emergency food assistance to 43,000 people affected by conflict in Mali between June and August 2023.

DAR ES SALAAM – More than 200,000 refugees in Tanzania will soon receive only half the food rations they need due to a critical funding shortage for WFP’s food assistance. WFP provides monthly in-kind food assistance to people living in refugee camps through food baskets.

SITTWE – WFP and its local partners have reached over 230,000 people with life-saving food assistance in the wake of Cyclone Mocha, the most destructive storm to strike Myanmar in over a decade. Within 72 hours after landfall on 14 May, WFP began food distributions in Sittwe, Rakhine’s state capital, which suffered considerable damage. The cyclone has flattened houses, destroyed livelihoods, and disrupted telecommunications, power, and supply chains.

Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali and the Sudan have been elevated to the highest alert level to join Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.