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
Iran has rejected claims it has been weakened, vowing instead “more crushing” attacks against the United States and ...
The global commodities market is facing a severe structural supply shock after a series of coordinated military strikes in the Middle East de...
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top storie...
More than 1.1 million people have been forced from their homes in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, as the UN spokesman says the human...
President Donald Trump said the U.S. "hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran", rei...
The United Nations warns that gang control over most of Haiti’s capital is worsening the hunger crisis and blocking humanitarian aid.
The World Food Programme has warned that its food supplies in Gaza have run out, leaving hundreds of thousands at risk as charity kitchens face imminent shutdown.
The WFP will cut food rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by over 50% from 1 April due to funding shortages, sparking concerns about hunger and insecurity.
Japan pledges $7 million to fight hunger and malnutrition in Afghanistan, supporting humanitarian efforts to improve food security and nutrition.
Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
There are fears of an oil spill after a drone strike hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker near Dubai on Tuesday, while U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran reportedly killed at least two people. A loud explosion was heard in Beirut in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, as oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel.
Russian-flagged tanker carrying approximately 700,000 barrels of crude oil docked at Cuba's Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, shipping data confirmed, marking a vital and controversial delivery to an island paralysed by severe energy shortages and a suffocating U.S. blockade.
Four astronauts blasted off from Florida on Wednesday on NASA's Artemis II mission, a high-stakes voyage around the moon that marks the United States' boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface later this decade in a race with China.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck in Indonesia's Northern Molucca Sea on Thursday, killing one person, damaging some buildings and triggering tsunami waves, authorities and witnesses said.
Austria’s government on Friday approved plans to introduce a nationwide ban on social media use for children under the age of 14, alongside reforms to upper secondary school curricula aimed at boosting media literacy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) education from the 2027/28 academic year.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that as of Wednesday evening, it has identified six new cases of meningococcal disease in Kent, bringing the total of confirmed or suspected cases to at least 27.
The Scottish Parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying, ending a years-long campaign to make Scotland the first part of the UK to allow the practice.
The war in the Middle East is beginning to disrupt the flow of critical medicines to Gulf countries, raising concerns about the supply of cancer treatments and other temperature-sensitive drugs, according to pharmaceutical industry executives.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released $2m in emergency funding to support health responses in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as escalating regional conflict strains hospitals, raises displacement and increases pressure on already fragile health systems.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment