UN World Food Programme to cut food aid to more than one million in Myanmar
The WFP said it would need £46 million to continue food assistance in Myanmar and called on its partners to identify additional funding.
The United Nations food agency said on Friday that more than one million people in war-torn Myanmar will be cut off from food assistance because of critical funding shortfalls.
A statement from the World Food Programme said that most food rations currently distributed in Myanmar will be cut off in April, even as the country faces a desperate humanitarian crisis caused by bitter fighting between the military government and powerful militias opposed to its rule.
The WFP said it would need 60 million dollars (£46 million) to continue food assistance in Myanmar and called on its partners to identify additional funding.
It was not immediately clear if the WFP’s decision was directly related to the moves by the Donald Trump administration in the US to stop most foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development, which have had wide-ranging effects on humanitarian efforts around the globe.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, asked whether the Myanmar funding cuts were a result of the US cuts, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York: “It’s all co-mingled,” stressing that the US is a big funder of WFP.
He said all UN agencies are actively engaging with US authorities “to explain to them the damage, the immediate damage that’s been done.”
A 90-day freeze on foreign assistance programs announced by Mr Trump has led to other cuts in services for refugees from Myanmar, including the shutdown of hospital care in camps in neighbouring Thailand where more than 100,000 are living, according to activists and Thai officials.
The US has been a “core contributor in the food security and livelihood sector in Myanmar” and there was already a shortfall last year with humanitarian needs only about 40% funded, said a senior leader in the aid sector based in Asia.
The new cuts, she said, have created a “devastating situation,” forcing NGOs to abandon many programmes, hitting vulnerable populations like people with disabilities, women and children the hardest, she said.
“The lifesaving work must continue,” she said.
“It’s just not possible for us to stop that because if we stop it means people will not survive. But the funding gap we’re facing has forced us to close programmes that are the lifeline, I think, for many people, in Myanmar.”
The nationwide armed conflict in Myanmar began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.
In Friday’s statement, the WFP said 15.2 million people, nearly one-third of the total population, are unable to meet their minimum daily food needs, and some 2.3 million face emergency levels of hunger.
The WFP said it will only be able to assist 35,000 of the most vulnerable people, including children under the age of five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people living with disabilities.
“The impending cuts will have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable communities across the country, many of whom depend entirely on WFP’s support to survive,” said Michael Dunford, WFP’s representative and country director in Myanmar.
“WFP remains steadfast in its commitment to support the people of Myanmar, but more immediate funding is crucial to continue reaching those in need.”
