WFP food aid cuts to impact over one million in Myanmar

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

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