Deliveries of fresh flatbread in Gaza reach the population, offering a sense of normality as the ceasefire takes hold. The bakeries offer a tangible sign that a precarious normality is returning. The loaves rolling out of their fiery ovens are part of a massive and rapid scale-up of WFP food assistance for people facing severe and even catastrophic hunger - with the aim of feeding up to 1.6 million in the first three months. Trucks of food assistance now entering the Strip are supporting bakeries, nutrition programmes and general food distributions. Those distributions will expand as conditions allow more food to enter the Strip and bakeries to reopen. Tens of thousands of metric tonnes of our food are ready for dispatch or heading to the Strip. “The smell of bread gives people hope that things are going to get back to normal,” says Samer Abdeljaber, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa & Eastern Europe. As more food reaches hungry people, he adds, “anxiety levels go down, so they can trust that more food is going to come in the next days.”
WFP
reveal that deep humanitarian aid cuts threaten millions with hunger and loss of lifesaving support, putting six critical operations at highest risk.
In eastern Afghanistan’s Andalachakin village, Khair Rahman recounts the devastating late-August earthquake that destroyed his home and injured several family members. With winter approaching, he fears for their survival in harsh conditions. The 6.0 magnitude quake claimed over 2,000 lives and left thousands injured and homeless across four provinces. Many survivors are now living in makeshift shelters or sleeping under the stars. As they confront severe hunger, families like Rahman’s are faced with a dire lack of humanitarian assistance just as winter sets in, adding to their desperate situation. Learn more about WFP's work in .
When funding is squeezed, humanitarian operations suffer – and so do the people that organizations such as the set out to assist. With down 40 percent since , WFP has to reduce and even end rations for some of the most vulnerable people. This year, with food and nutrition assistance as 343 million people in 74 countries face acute hunger. Yet money alone will not solve this crisis. In context after context, across continents, achieving peace – or, at least, peaceful conditions – remains critical for WFP to assist people at scale. Ross Smith, WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, , the gaps in funding, and how conflict is deepening urgency.
It's encouraging to see that nearly 80 million more children are now receiving school meals compared to 2020, bringing the total to about 466 million. A new World Food Programme (WFP) shows that the increase is especially impactful in low-income countries, where participation in school meal programs has surged by 60%. In Africa, about 20 million more children are being nurtured through these efforts, with significant strides in countries like Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. This rare success in the development space is being led by governments around the world.
World Food Programme () staff reflect on life in two of the toughest places on earth. At dawn in northern Haiti, far from the violence of Port-au-Prince, aid workers travel safely to support farmers and schools. While insecurity hampers food distribution in the capital, resilience thrives. Over half of Haitians face hunger yet hope persists amid hardship. In January, M23 rebels seized Goma, DRC, killing nearly 1,000 people and triggering mass evacuations. UN staff fled as chaos erupted. WFP warehouses were looted, food stocks lost. Amid displacement and violence, aid efforts stalled, leaving vulnerable groups at greater risk. The hardest part is knowing how quickly everything can collapse – and how long it takes to rebuild.
Earlier this year, the ’s food and nutrition support reached 1.3 million people in northern Nigeria. Without an immediate influx in donations, only half that will be assisted in August.
At the , leaders are spotlighting school meals as vital for improving nutrition, boosting local economies, and advancing education across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Drought, conflict, and floods have displaced millions in Somalia, forcing families like Farhia Ali’s to leave farms for uncertain lives in overcrowded, under-resourced urban camps, where funding cuts deepen hunger and hardship.
Impoverished communities in Palestine (Gaza), Haiti, Mali, South Sudan and Sudan are at risk of famine or already facing catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity at IPC Phase 5 – the most life-threatening level on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification – according to the latest UN report. Published jointly twice a year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), the report confirms deepening crises in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Syria, Yemen and – in a new entry to the list – Nigeria, another country where critical emergency food assistance has faced unprecedented cuts.
Learn more about this rare and deadliest form of hunger, which is spreading in Sudan and threatens Gaza and elsewhere – and how is fighting it.
With funding cuts worsening food insecurity in Afghanistan, one in five people now needs emergency aid, as women and children face rising malnutrition and shrinking food assistance, warns WFP.
The darkest moments for Nyanene Gatdoor come when her 2-year-old son Tuach sobs from hunger. “When the baby is crying in front of you, and you have nothing to give him, you feel pain in your heart,” says the 25-year-old mother of 3.
People in Gaza are at risk of starvation, with all aid blocked from entering since 2 March. A report by 17 United Nations agencies and NGOs released last week says 470,000 people face – level 5 on the , the global standard for measuring food insecurity. It also projects that 71,000 children and more than 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. Three World Food Programme (WFP) staff members share their perspectives: two who visited Deir el-Balah, in the heart of Gaza, in May, and one from Gaza herself.
Restoring degraded ecosystems in Africa is crucial for food security, with WFP’s initiatives like the Livelihood Assets & Resilience Academy building Zimbabwe's local expertise to scale sustainable growth.