Over a million displaced people in Myanmar are set to be affected by the World Food Programme’s cuts to food aid worldwide.
The UN agency announced the cuts which will come into effect from next month due to critical shortfalls in funding.
"These cuts come just as increased conflict, displacement and access restrictions are already sharply driving up food aid needs," WFP said on Friday, warning that the cuts would affect groups that were entirely reliant on it for food.
The WFP while announcing its latest cut to humanitarian support did not elaborate on the funding shortfall and whether it was due to the U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cut U.S. foreign aid globally.
The agency also warned that a lack of funding would mean cuts to operations in Afghanistan, parts of Africa and refugee camps in Bangladesh - leaving millions of people hungry.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while visiting the world's largest refugee settlement in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh on Friday said all hope was not lost.
"I can promise that we will do everything to avoid it," Guterres told reporters during his visit to the camps, where the Rohingya already live in poverty.
"I will be talking to all countries in the world that can support us in order to make sure that funds are made available."
The conflict in Myanmar, which has engulfed swathes of the country, has contaminated farmland with landmines and unexploded ordnance and destroyed agricultural equipment, making local food production more challenging, according to U.N. human rights experts.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021 when the military seized power from an elected civilian government, sparking a protest movement that has expanded into a nationwide armed rebellion.
Nearly 20 million people in Myanmar are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, and an estimated 15.2 million - about a third of the country's population - are facing acute food insecurity, according to U.N. human rights experts.
A junta spokesman did not respond to a request for comments at this time
Operations at several energy facilities in Saudi Arabia were suspended on Tuesday after attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi forces injured more than 70 ...
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at leas...
Twelve countries said on Tuesday they would introduce, support or consider trade restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, i...
At least five people were killed and five others injured when an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane overran a runway and crashed while landing at Miami International Airport on Sunday, 6 September, local officials said.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the United States must recognise that the “rules of the game” in its war against Iran had changed “before it is too late”, a day after Washington struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf.
U.S. special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
Indonesia has reopened Jakarta's main airport and four others after volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau forced widespread flight cancellations, though fresh eruptions have kept authorities on alert.
Bangladesh’s dengue outbreak is accelerating, with 42,590 people hospitalised and 117 deaths recorded this year as a sharp September surge puts further pressure on hospitals.
Prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss medicines among U.S. children aged eight to 11 have increased more than 300-fold since 2019, highlighting both the growing burden of childhood obesity and the debate over how early these drugs should be used.
Australia has confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu in a mammal after the virus was detected in a dead long-nosed fur seal in South Australia, authorities said.
Malaysia is facing a sharp rise in dengue infections, with the capital Kuala Lumpur and the wider Klang Valley emerging as the main centres of concern.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak has surpassed 5,000 confirmed cases, with the death toll reaching 2,378, according to the latest government data.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment