WFP World Food Program Cuts Food Aid For One Million People In Myanmar

PHOTO OF ILLUSTRATION VIA Instagram @worldfoodprogramme

JAKARTA - More than one million people in Myanmar will be cut off from food assistance provided by the World Food Program (WFP) starting next month.

This is due to a critical shortage of funds, the latest cuts in humanitarian support from the UN agency.

"This cuts occurred just as the increase in conflicts, evacuations, and access restrictions had sharply increased the need for food aid," the WFP said on Friday, March 14.

The WFP warns the cuts will affect groups that rely entirely on them to get food.

The WFP in recent months said the lack of funds would mean cuts in operations in Afghanistan, parts of Africa, and refugee camps in Bangladesh - which left millions of people starving.

Myanmar has been hit by chaos since early 2021 when the military seized power from the elected civilian government, prompting a protest movement that has developed into a national armed uprising.

Nearly 20 million people in Myanmar currently need humanitarian assistance, and an estimated 15.2 million people - about a third of the country's population - are facing acute food insecurity, according to UN human rights experts.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday was in the world's largest refugee settlement in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, where more than one million Rohingya residents face halving their WFP-backed food rations to only $6 per month starting April.

"I can promise that we will do everything to avoid it," Guterres told reporters during his visit to the camps.

"I will speak with all countries in the world that can support us to ensure that funds are available," he added.

WFP did not elaborate on the lack of funds and whether it was due to US President Donald Trump's decision to cut US foreign aid globally.

WFP needs $ 60 million to maintain food aid operations in Myanmar this year.

The agency said the cuts would affect communities across Myanmar, including about 100,000 internally displaced people consisting of Rohingya Muslim minority communities and others.

"WFP is also very concerned about the upcoming drought season from July to September when food shortages hit the worst," the statement said.

The conflict in Myanmar, which has hit most of the country, has polluted agricultural land with unexploded land and weapons mines and destroyed agricultural equipment, making local food production more challenging, according to UN human rights experts.

"Even in places that have fertile land, there is a shortage of workers due to massive transfers and people who have fled military service," the WFP said.