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News Topical, Digital Desk : The United Nations food aid agency said on Wednesday that cuts in financial contributions by top donors were severely impacting its operations in six countries, warning that some 14 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation.
The World Food Programme (WFP), traditionally the UN's largest financially funded agency, said in a new report that it faces its biggest funding challenge yet this year, primarily due to significant funding cuts by the US (under the Donald Trump administration) and other major Western countries.
These countries are being affected due to financial cuts
The agency warned that 13.7 million people receiving its food aid could now face emergency-level hunger. The countries most affected by the funding cuts are Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. "We are watching the lifelines of millions of people crumble before our eyes," said Cindy McCain, the agency's executive director.
Expected to receive $1.5 billion
The WFP said it expects to receive 40 percent fewer financial contributions this year, reducing its estimated budget from $10 billion to $6.4 billion. It expects to receive about $1.5 billion from the United States this year, significantly less than last year's nearly $4.5 billion. Other top donors have also cut contributions.
"It's not just a lack of funding. It's a real gap between what we should be doing and what we can do. We could lose decades of progress in the fight against hunger," McCain said.
Famine struck Gaza and Sudan
The Rome-based agency says global hunger has already reached record levels, with 319 million people facing severe food insecurity. Famine has struck Gaza and Sudan. In Afghanistan, aid is reaching less than 10 percent of the food-insecure population, who don't even know where their next meal will come from.
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