Latest news with #UnitedNationsWorldFoodProgram
The Star
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
WFP faces 274-mln-USD funding shortfall for humanitarian aids in South Sudan
JUBA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Wednesday warned of a funding shortage hindering humanitarian efforts in South Sudan. Mary-Ellen McGroarty, country director for the WFP in South Sudan, said the agency is facing a 274 million U.S. dollar shortfall in funding for food aid to help vulnerable South Sudanese. "We are reducing the level of assistance. We are reducing the rations. In most of our programs now, we are only giving about 50 percent of what is required, except in those cases that are very high risk, at the risk of famine where we give a 70 percent ration," McGroarty told reporters in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. She said the WFP originally planned 750 million dollars in food aid for South Sudan this year, which was later revised to 630 million dollars, still leaving a shortfall of 274 million dollars to meet the target. McGroarty said the situation in the country is driven by the absence of livelihoods, poverty, floods, climate shocks, and ongoing conflict. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), over half of South Sudan's population is experiencing severe food insecurity. With clear signs of famine risk in specific areas and a widespread crisis elsewhere, the situation demands urgent, multi-sector humanitarian intervention to prevent further deterioration and loss of life, the WFP said.
Ammon
3 days ago
- Business
- Ammon
UK allocates additional £5.5 million for refugees in Jordan
Ammon News - The United Kingdom has announced a new contribution of £5.5 million (US$7.43 million) to support the United Nations World Food Program's (WFP) food assistance operations for refugees residing in camps and host communities across Jordan. In a statement on Sunday, WFP Jordan said this latest funding marks the UK's second allocation to the program this year, following a previous contribution of £4 million (US$5.16 million) that helped avert cuts in aid to thousands of vulnerable refugees. WFP Country Director and Resident Representative in Jordan Alberto Correa Mendes said the renewed UK support arrives at a critical juncture and underscores Britain's ongoing commitment to humanitarian assistance in the Kingdom. He noted that the funding will help sustain WFP's efforts to support the most vulnerable families amid severe funding constraints affecting WFP and other partners engaged in refugee assistance. Mendes highlighted that WFP still faces a funding gap of US$24 million to maintain reduced levels of monthly cash assistance through the end of this year and prevent further cuts to aid provided to refugees in camps and host communities. Currently, WFP provides cash assistance to 280,000 refugees in Jordan, primarily Syrians, to help them meet essential food needs. In July 2023, funding shortfalls forced the program to reduce monthly cash assistance from 23 Jordanian dinars to 15 Jordanian dinars per person, representing a one-third cut.
Days of Palestine
26-06-2025
- General
- Days of Palestine
WFP: Gaza food deliveries insufficient for one day's needs
DaysofPal – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has sounded a dire warning about the escalating food crisis in the Gaza Strip, revealing that it has only been able to deliver 9,000 metric tons of food aid to the besieged territory since May 19, an amount it says is less than a single day's worth of food for the entire population. In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, the WFP wrote that the amount delivered so far 'represents less than one day's worth of food needs for every individual in the besieged territory.' The agency reiterated that it is ready to expand its operations but stressed that this can only happen with 'guarantees for safe access and improved field conditions.' The agency has previously warned that the probability of famine in Gaza is rapidly increasing, driven by the ongoing Israeli military offensive, which continues to obstruct humanitarian operations. A recent WFP report noted that 'high food prices, the collapse of livelihoods, and the trade blockade will accelerate economic collapse' in the Strip. 'The situation can only be stabilized through a significant expansion of food distribution, to calm fears and rebuild confidence within communities that more food is coming,' the WFP said. It called for immediate steps to ease the flow of aid: 'There is now an urgent need to find safer routes for convoys, speed up approvals for permits, provide reliable communications services, and open more border crossings.' The consequences of Gaza's humanitarian collapse are staggering. The WFP projects that by September 2025, all 2.1 million people in Gaza will face food insecurity classified as crisis level or worse (IPC Phase 3 and above), with nearly half a million expected to reach catastrophic levels (IPC Phase 5), the highest level of food insecurity classification. The desperation is also turning deadly. 'The fear of starvation and the desperate need for food are driving large crowds to gather along known transport routes, hoping to intercept humanitarian supplies as they pass through,' the agency noted. Recent weeks have seen multiple Israeli massacres of Palestinians waiting for food. The Gaza Government Media Office reported on Wednesday that the number of Palestinians killed at aid distribution sites has risen to 549, with more than 4,000 others wounded in just one month. Medical sources counted 78 Palestinians killed in Israeli raids across the Strip since dawn on Wednesday alone, including 14 people who were reportedly waiting for aid. Press sources suggested the true toll may be closer to 100. Many of these attacks occurred near distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has overseen food aid since May under a U.S.-Israeli arrangement. Witnesses and human rights groups have increasingly reported Israeli forces firing on hungry civilians approaching these aid locations. With needs soaring and access shrinking, humanitarian agencies continue to plead for meaningful access and protection. But without urgent change, the Strip risks plunging further into an unprecedented man-made famine. Shortlink for this post:
Days of Palestine
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
WFP Urges Immediate International Action to Deliver Aid to Starving Civilians in Gaza
DaysofPal – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has issued an urgent appeal for international intervention to establish safe and uninterrupted humanitarian corridors into the Gaza Strip, as the humanitarian situation spirals further into catastrophe. In a statement released today, the WFP emphasized that the deteriorating security situation, ongoing Israeli bombardments, and the lack of protected access routes are severely obstructing the continued delivery of food and essential relief supplies. The agency warned that without immediate action, the humanitarian response in Gaza risks total collapse. The WFP called on all relevant authorities to expedite the issuance of permits, consistently open border crossings, and provide concrete security guarantees for aid convoys and humanitarian teams. It stressed that secure access must be established immediately to ensure life-saving aid reaches the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped by siege and war. The appeal comes in the aftermath of yet another massacre on Wednesday morning, when at least 25 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while awaiting humanitarian assistance near the Netzarim corridor, south of Gaza City. According to medical sources, Israeli soldiers fired directly at civilians gathered in the Al-Nabulsi area, fully aware that the crowd was waiting for aid. The attack left 25 dead and dozens more wounded, many of them critically. Al-Shifa Hospital received 10 of the deceased, while Al-Quds Hospital reported receiving 6 additional fatalities and 95 injured individuals. This latest atrocity follows a disturbing pattern of repeated Israeli attacks on civilians at aid distribution points amid a months-long blockade that has plunged Gaza into famine and medical collapse. In response, the Gaza Government Media Office issued a forceful statement condemning what it described as systematic targeting of civilians during aid distributions. It accused the so-called 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)' of complicity, alleging that the foundation functions as a tool of the Israeli military to lure starving civilians into deadly ambushes under the pretense of humanitarian assistance. The statement demanded the immediate shutdown of the foundation's operations in Gaza and called for the urgent and unconditional opening of all crossings to allow aid entry through recognized international organizations such as UN agencies. It further urged the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to investigate what it termed 'massacres at death points.' As Israeli aggression continues, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels. Civilians suffer from acute shortages of food, potable water, and medicine, while hospitals operate on the brink of collapse. Amid this escalating crisis, the international community's failure to act decisively has drawn sharp criticism, with the Media Office warning that silence in the face of these crimes amounts to complicity. Shortlink for this post:
The Star
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
‘We Gazans are dying every day'
NO words can better capture the reality in Gaza today than this: We are dying. Every day, in every imaginable way, we die. Death comes by missile, by gunshot, by collapsed building, by lack of medicine and by fear. And now, once again, it will come by hunger as Israel has closed off humanitarian supplies – with the agreement of not just the Trump administration but also the tacit support of the people of the United States and Europe who elected governments not committed to the rule of law and to stopping atrocities. Many are responsible for the small wasted bodies that will soon be seen again on Western television screens. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president Donald Trump met again recently – from positions of power and comfort, deciding the fate of people they will never meet. In their decisions, Gaza's children are reduced to collateral. Mothers, fathers and whole families are figures on a chessboard, disposable. Our kitchens used to smell like home – warm spices, olive oil, bread baking in the early afternoon. Now they smell like nothing. Just metal cans and whatever dried goods we can scavenge. Stocks that were able to come in at scale during the ceasefire 'have practically run out,' according to John Whyte of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians. For some six weeks, no aid has entered Gaza because of the ongoing Israeli blockade. The United Nations World Food Program said recently that it had run out of food in Gaza. More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved. When we can eat, it is only to survive, not to be full. Not to feel joy. Children line up for charity meals holding out plastic containers. Mothers break down while trying to quiet their babies' hungry cries. Fathers stare at the ground, ashamed to be unable to provide for their families. We try to turn next to nothing into something, but even the imagination is tired. Fruit, vegetables, meat – these are memories now. In the past, even under siege, we shared what little we had. But this time is different. Our shelves are bare. How did it come to this? How did the world get to a place where the collective punishment of starvation is used as leverage to shape the terms of a ceasefire? This isn't a consequence of war. It's a strategy. A deliberate and systematic Israeli effort — with Western acceptance — to make hunger a form of control. A way to turn a people into a population too weakened to resist oppression. This is not rationing. It's removal. And still, we remember who we are. We remember 1948, when our grandparents were forced from their homes. We remember 1967, when we were uprooted again. In every chapter, we held onto the land, planted in its soil. But this time, Israel has taken the fields too. Israel has taken the water, the seeds and the hands that once tilled them. According to the human rights group Al-Haq, more than 70% of Gaza is now inaccessible to its residents, with reports indicating that Israel has seized more than 37% of the land. And yet, how would you know? I am told CNN rarely covers us anymore. The people of Gaza don't appear in breaking news alerts. We are made invisible by the editorial decisions of people who find our lives too political, too inconvenient – whose audiences have accepted our suffering as unremarkable. Have you seen a mother dividing a single piece of bread among five children? Have you heard of the child who died from scalding after being knocked into a pot of food as a crowd scrambled for one meal? The stories sound unreal, but they're not. Even my cat is starving, and I don't know how to help her. But some people can watch entire communities starve and feel nothing. The same nations that speak of human rights in news conferences remain silent when those rights are trampled in Gaza. Even when South Africa brought a genocide case to the International Court of Justice, the court responded carefully – not a judgment, but a request: Stop bombing civilians, let aid in. Even that was ignored. The bombs fell anyway. The aid was blocked. The request was drowned out by Israel's allies – France, Germany, the US – urging the court not to say the word 'genocide.' As if language could hide the bodies. This isn't just about Gaza. It's about the collapse of the very idea of justice. If the law bows to power, what is left for those without it? People must choose what kind of legacy they want to leave behind. Will it be one of silence in the face of starvation and Israeli abuses? Or one of courage, where justice is more than just rhetoric? We don't need pity. We don't need sympathy. We need rights. We need food. We need safety. A ceasefire is only the beginning. The siege, the apartheid, the multiple displacements – these are not footnotes. They are the story. And one day, when this is over – when the horror is fully brought to light – the world will be asked: How did you let this happen? — Los Angeles Times/TNS Nour Khalil Abu Shammala is a Palestinian trainee lawyer and human rights advocate based in Gaza City.
