WFP warns millions of refugees in Ethiopia could lose food aid
The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that it is on the verge of suspending food aid for millions of refugees in Ethiopia due to severe funding shortages following major cuts in international assistance.
WFP Country Director in Ethiopia, Zlatan Milisic, said the agency urgently needs 230 million U.S. dollars to sustain its humanitarian operations over the next six months.
“Without immediate new funding, WFP could be forced to completely suspend food assistance for all refugees in Ethiopia in the coming months,” he said in a statement on Friday.
The UN agency recently cut food rations for 780,000 refugees across 27 camps in Ethiopia, forcing many to survive on fewer than 1,000 calories a day.
“We are making impossible choices,” Milisic said. “These reductions are just another step towards stopping food distributions completely, putting the lives of those we currently assist at risk.”
Ethiopia continues to receive an influx of refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict in Sudan, as well as instability in South Sudan, while grappling with its own internal conflicts in regions such as Amhara and Oromia, which have displaced tens of thousands.
“Every ration cut is a child left hungrier, a mother forced to skip meals, a family pushed closer to the edge,” Milisic warned.
Earlier this year, WFP suspended food aid for 650,000 malnourished women and children in Ethiopia due to funding gaps. Between January and October, it provided life-saving support to 4.7 million vulnerable people across the country.
The crisis in Ethiopia reflects a broader collapse in funding for humanitarian operations worldwide.. The United States and other major donors have significantly reduced aid budgets, forcing the WFP to scale back in multiple regions.
In Somalia, the agency recently cut food assistance for hundreds of thousands amid worsening drought and hunger driven by climate change. In July, WFP announced it was suspending food and nutrition programs in parts of West and Central Africa, citing U.S. aid reductions that have brought many of its operations “to a standstill.”
The WFP warned that unless new funding is secured, millions across Africa’s conflict and climate-hit regions could soon face deeper food insecurity and malnutrition.
