The United Nations World Food Programme said on Friday it would halt food and nutrition assistance to more than 2 million people in Nigeria and the Central Sahel region next month without urgent funding to bridge shortfalls.
Palestinians in Gaza are facing more misery as prices soar following Israel’s decision to cut off food and other supplies to the enclave. Aid workers say it is endangering progress made during the six-week ceasefire to prevent widespread famine.
The global reduction in foreign aid is severely impacting our ability to operate, particularly in Central Sahel and Nigeria,” said Margot van der Velden, WFP’s Regional Director for Western Africa.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday that potentially life-saving food and nutrition assistance in Central Sahel and Nigeria will have to end next month, unless emergency funds can be secured.
The aid lifeline for Umm Muhammad and hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians is now under existential threat as Israel lays siege to Gaza once again.
The United Nations World Food Programme, which relies on the U.S. for nearly half its budget, is closing its Southern Africa bureau due to funding constraints, the agency said on Monday as the region struggles to withstand a severe drought.
The decision comes amid widespread drought throughout the region, as well as an increasingly fraught war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN’s food agency has warned that it will run out of supplies to help feed Palestinians in Gaza in just two weeks if Israel continues its total blockade of food and other necessities, putting the lives of millions of Palestinians at risk.