Programs in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan are already facing major disruptions, which will only get worse.
“Each ration reduction means a child goes to bed hungry, a mother misses a meal, or a family loses the support they need to survive.« , said PAM Executive Director Cindy McCain.
Record hunger, reduced budget
The crisis comes as global hunger reaches record levels, with 319 million people facing acute food insecurity, including 44 million in emergencies. Famine has also set in in Sudan and the Gaza Strip.
WFP expects to receive 40 percent less funding this year, which would translate into a projected budget of $6.4 billion, compared to $10 billion in 2024.
« We are risk losing decades of progress in the fight against hunger“said Ms. McCain.
“Even hard-won progress in the Sahel region, where 500,000 people have been freed from aid dependency through integrated food assistance and resilience programs, could soon be reversed without continued support. »
Critical operations at risk
These reductions could move 13.7 million people receiving WFP food aid from crisis level to emergency famine, an increase of a third, the agency said in its statement. a new report.
In Afghanistan, “dramatic reductions” mean food aid reaches less than 10 percent of those who need it, despite soaring malnutrition rates.
The DRC faces record levels of hunger and around a quarter of the population, or 28 million people, suffer from food insecurity.
The WFP had planned to feed 2.3 million people this month, which was reduced to 600,000 people, and ‘complete pipeline rupture’ could occur by February.
“In Haiti, hot meal programs have already been interrupted and families are receiving half of the WFP’s standard monthly rations,” the agency said, while “aid in Somalia has been cut repeatedly,” from 2.2 million people last year to just 350,000 in November.
All WFP food beneficiaries in South Sudan are now receiving a reduced ration, « which will be missing some food items from October as the country’s stocks run out ».
Meanwhile, WFP currently supports four million people each month in war-torn Sudan, but 25 million people, half the population, face acute food insecurity.
Food aid is loaded onto a Nile barge for delivery to isolated communities.
Commitment to deliver
The WFP said its preparedness efforts also suffered. For the first time in nearly a decade, there are no contingency stocks for the hurricane season in Haiti, nor any prepositioning of food in Afghanistan as winter approaches.
Although the reductions have different impacts depending on its operations, the agency remains committed to providing food assistance to the world’s hungriest regions.
“The devastating damage caused by food aid reductions not only threatens human lives, but also risks undermining stability, fueling displacement, and fueling broader social and economic upheaval,” Ms. McCain said.
“Quick and efficient food aid is a vital bulwark against chaos in countries that are already struggling to cope.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
