NY. The United Nations (UN) has been forced to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in many countries due to a “crippling funding crisis” that has cut donations by nearly half. , as acute hunger reaches record levels, a senior official said on Friday.
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, said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program (WFP). in a press conference.
The agency needs 20 billion dollars to distribute aid to all those who need it, but it counts on having between 10 and 14 billion dollars, 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 billion,” 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 risk 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 very difficult times.”
Asked about the reasons why the funds are being reduced, Skau said that it is the donors who must answer. “But it is clear that the aid budgets, the humanitarian budgets, both in Europe and in the United States are not like 2021-2022,” he said.
Skau recalled that in March the WFP was forced to cut rations by 75 to 50 percent in Afghan communities at emergency famine levels, and in May it had to cut food for 8 million people, 66 percent of them. the people he helped. Now it attends just 5 million, he said.
In Syria, 5.5 million people dependent on the agency’s aid were already on 50 percent 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 percent in May and June, in addition to cutting the number of cases it treats by 60 percent, 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.
