At least 38 of the 86 countries where the World Food Program operates have already suffered cuts or will suffer cuts soon, including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and West Africa, Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director, told a news conference. .
The agency needs 20,000 million dollars to distribute aid among all those who need it, but it counts on having between 10,000 and 14,000 million, which is the same as it has received in recent years, he added.
“We continue to aspire to that, but so far this year we have barely reached half, about 5,000 million,” Skau said.
Humanitarian needs “shot up” in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and its global implications. “Those needs continue to grow, those conditions continue to exist (…) but funding is running out. So we are seeing 2024 (will be) even more calamitous,” he said.
“The biggest food and nutrition crisis in history persists today,” Skau said. “This year, 345 million people continue to suffer from acute food insecurity, while hundreds of millions of people are at risk of worsening hunger.”
According to Skau, conflicts and insecurity continue to be the main causes of severe hunger around the world, in addition to climate change, incessant disasters, persistent food inflation and growing debt pressure, all in a slowdown scenario. global economy.
WFP is trying to diversify its funding base, he said, urging the agency’s traditional donors to “step up and support us in these difficult times.”
Asked about the reasons why the funds are being reduced, Skau said that it is the donors who must answer that.
“But it is clear that the aid budgets, the humanitarian budgets, both in Europe and in the United States are not like those of 2021-2022,” he said.
Skau recalled that, in March, the WFP was forced to cut rations from 75% to 50% in Afghan communities with emergency famine levels, and in May it had to reduce food for 8 million people, 66% of the people he helped. Now it attends just 5 million, he said.
In Syria, 5.5 million people dependent on the agency’s aid already had 50% rations, it added, and in July it cut rations for 2.5 million beneficiaries. In the Palestinian territories, WFP reduced its cash assistance by 20% in May and June, as well as cutting the number of cases it treats by 60%, or 200,000 people. And in Yemen, the huge funding gap will force them to cut aid to 7 million in August.
In West Africa, where acute hunger is increasing, most countries will see extensive ration cuts, especially in its seven main operations: Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mali, Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
