Latest World Food Programme News

From Zambia to Afghanistan, WFP warns El Nino's extreme weather is causing a surge in hunger

May. 22, 2024 20:51 PM EDT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday, and called on donors for much-needed help. El Niño is a natural,...

First aid from US pier in Gaza has reached starving Palestinians, the UN says

May. 22, 2024 18:11 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program said Wednesday that it has handed out in Gaza in recent days a “limited number” of high-energy biscuits that arrived from a U.S.-built pier, the first aid from the new humanitarian sea route to get into the hands of Palestinians in grave need. ...

UN halts all food distribution in Rafah after running out of supplies in the southern Gaza city

May. 21, 2024 20:38 PM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday due to a lack of supplies and an untenable security situation caused by Israel’s expanding military operation. The U.N. warned that humanitarian operations across the territory were nearing...

UN food agency warns that the new US sea route for Gaza aid may fail unless conditions improve

May. 21, 2024 19:55 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday the new U.S. $320 million pier project for delivering aid to Gaza may fail unless Israel starts ensuring the conditions the humanitarian groups need to operate safely. The operation was halted for at least two days after crowds looted aid...

Heavy rains set off flash floods in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 84 people

May. 19, 2024 09:40 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — More heavy rains in Afghanistan have triggered flash floods, raising the death toll to 84 in the country’s north following weeks of devastating torrents that had already left hundreds dead and missing, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. The new round of heavy rains...

Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan after heavy rains, UN says

May. 11, 2024 11:25 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses, the U.N. food agency said Saturday. The World Food Program said it was distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors of one of the...

Unusual floods in eastern Congo causing hardship to almost half a million people, WFP says

May. 10, 2024 07:22 AM EDT

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Floods caused by unusually heavy rains in eastern Congo caused hardship for more than 470,000 people, the World Food Program said Wednesday. Heavy rains late last year caused rivers and lakes in the South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces to overflow, destroying...

UN food agency fears an escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border can cripple aid efforts in Lebanon

May. 08, 2024 12:50 PM EDT

DEKWANEH, Lebanon (AP) — If the monthslong conflict playing out on the Lebanese-Israeli border continues to escalate, the United Nations food agency won't be ready for the spike in nutritional needs across crisis-hit Lebanon, its deputy executive director said Wednesday. Clashes...

The UN says there's 'full-blown famine' in northern Gaza. What does that mean?

May. 06, 2024 13:07 PM EDT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The head of the United Nations World Food Program says northern Gaza has entered “full-blown famine” after nearly seven months of war between Israel and Hamas. But a formal, and highly sensitive, famine declaration faces the complications of politics and of confirming...

The UN warns Sudan's warring parties that Darfur risks starvation and death if aid isn't allowed in

May. 04, 2024 01:59 AM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations food agency warned Sudan’s warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don’t allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region. Leni Kinzli, the World...