Latest World Food Programme News

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...

US says a UN agency has agreed to help in distribution of aid to Gaza via sea route

Apr. 19, 2024 20:56 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program has agreed to help deliver aid for the starving civilians of Gaza once the U.S. military completes a pier for transporting the humanitarian assistance by sea, U.S. officials said Friday. The involvement of the U.N. agency could help...

First UN food supplies arrive in Sudan's Darfur after months but millions face acute hunger

Apr. 05, 2024 14:49 PM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United Nations said Friday it has begun distributing food in Sudan’s restive western Darfur region for the first time in months, following two successful cross-border deliveries in March, but the population still faces widespread hunger unless more help arrives. ...

Extreme drought in southern Africa leaves millions hungry

Mar. 31, 2024 03:32 AM EDT

MANGWE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Delicately and with intense concentration, Zanyiwe Ncube poured her small share of precious golden cooking oil into a plastic bottle at a food aid distribution site deep in rural Zimbabwe. “I don't want to lose a single drop,” she said. ...

Malawi follows Zambia in declaring drought disaster as El Niño brings hunger to southern Africa

Mar. 25, 2024 02:41 AM EDT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The southern African nation of Malawi has declared a state of disaster over drought in 23 of its 28 districts and the president says it urgently needs more than $200 million in humanitarian assistance, less than a month after neighboring Zambia also appealed for...

UN seeks $4B for aid in Syria as civilians face growing humanitarian crisis

Mar. 22, 2024 11:50 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.N. humanitarian official appealed Friday for more than $4 billion in life-saving aid for more than 10 million Syrians, saying that the country's largely forgotten crisis remains “one of the most deadly to civilians in the world.” Adam Abdelmoula, resident...