Global hunger increasing but funding of aid programs declining, says top World Food Programme official in GCC

Abdel-Mageed Yahia - Unprecedented hunger
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Updated 03 September 2023
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Global hunger increasing but funding of aid programs declining, says top World Food Programme official in GCC

  • Abdel-Mageed Yahia describes conflict as the number driver of food insecurity, says impact of climate change significant too
  • Lauds KSrelief donation of $6.8 million in August for rescue of critical food-aid program for Syrian refugees in Jordan

DUBAI: As conflict, natural disasters and climate change stalk swathes of the world, a simultaneous epidemic is spreading: an estimated 345 million people in 79 countries are facing acute hunger.

Abdel-Mageed Yahia, director of World Food Programme’s UAE office and representative for the Gulf Cooperation Council region, says that unless food needs are met, the hunger epidemic may become catastrophic.

“It’s true that this year, we are facing an unprecedented hunger level,” he said during a special interview with Arab News Japan recorded in Dubai.

“We said 2023 is going to be a difficult year, although we had a lot of success in 2022 when we were able to reach around 140 million people.”

Of the more than 340 million facing hunger in the world, he added, 40 million are “in the extreme level of hunger, which is one step away from famine.”




Sudanese girls who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023. (Reuters)

According to Yahia, “all of it starts with the conflicts which we are seeing in different parts of the world, from the Middle East to Africa, from the Horn of Africa and the Sahel to Afghanistan.”

Climate change is also playing a major role, he said, adding: “Economic downturn is another cause, which is the impact of COVID-19.”

Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, better known as climate change, can be natural, but almost all research suggests humans are overwhelmingly responsible for global warming in the last 200 years.

Conflict, however, is the “number one” driver of food insecurity, Yahia said.

“If I can give you the example of Sudan, in a matter of just four months since the start of the conflict, you have around four million people who are displaced, who have either moved to another location inside Sudan or fled the country to neighboring countries.

“This has created a burden for the countries of destination, such as South Sudan, that were already struggling to offer assistance (to existing displaced populations).”

Such a situation is not unique to Sudan and its neighbors. Yahia, who was WFP representative, country director and emergency coordinator in Jordan, responsible for one of the largest WFP emergency operations in the Middle East region, has first-hand experience dealing with food crises.

He pointed out that hosting approximately half a million Syrian refugees whom the WFP supports in Jordan, plus a million more in Lebanon, similarly adds to the challenges already being faced by recipient countries.

While shifts in weather patterns, wars and pandemics are nothing new, the occurrence of all these events at once has forced the WFP to “prioritize,” Yahia said.

“In other words, take from the hungry to give to the starving. That is the situation we are exactly in. When you are faced with an increasing number of populations in need of humanitarian assistance on the one hand and decreasing funds on the other hand, that’s exactly what you do,” he said.

“We are struggling also with funding, because there are now, call it competing priorities, from Afghanistan to Yemen, to Syria, to the Horn of Africa, to the Sahel, to Sudan.”

He said the WFP will most likely be unable to raise the $24 billion it needs to reach 170 million of the world’s most vulnerable.

“I remember, about 15 years ago, we were talking in the WFP if we will be able to manage two crises at a time. But now, we are talking about more than 10 crises that are going on at the current time. And you see the effect of all this,” Yahia said. 

“Last year was a success because we were able to raise $14 billion and reach 140 million people. But this year, our estimate is that we may be able to reach or raise even $10 billion. So, the situation is that hunger is increasing on one side and funding is declining on the other side, which put us in a really difficult situation.”

Against this backdrop, Saudi Arabia has stepped in to save a critically important food aid program in Jordan. In August, the WFP welcomed a donation of $6.8 million from KSrelief, which made possible the continuation of its food assistance programs for Syrian refugees living in camps in Jordan.

The latest contribution is far from the Kingdom’s first: since its inception in 2015, KSrelief has contributed more than $1.25 billion to the WFP for schemes in 26 countries.




With the influx of displaced people increasing demand for food in already war-ravaged countries, the conflict in Sudan has disrupted essential supply chains and trade routes. (Reuters)

“This donation helped to rescue the operations in Jordan, rescue … the food pipeline that we have maintained to the refugees inside the camps. On Sept. 1, we were supposed to announce that we are cutting or reducing the assistance to the population in the camps. The (donation) came as a (timely) rescue of our operation in Jordan and we will see immediate effects,” Yahia said.

“The refugees in camps will continue to receive their vouchers or food rations continuously. However, there are also other refugees still, because this contribution is directed toward the refugees in the camps.

“There are refugees outside the camps. Should we not receive contributions from other donors, we will still face the situation of opting for that solution, which is a very hard decision to make. But the Saudi contribution was a real rescue of our operation in Jordan and well timed, too.”

With the influx of displaced people increasing demand for food in already war-ravaged countries, the conflict in Sudan has disrupted essential supply chains and trade routes.

“When you have a country in this crisis, import of food is disrupted, trade routes are disrupted, and so on and so forth. So, it does not look good. It was not looking good even before the crisis, and now it is going in absolutely the wrong direction,” Yahia said.

“But we are there on the ground. We started a cross-border operation from Chad into West Darfur, and then reached other areas in Sudan. With difficulty, we have been able to reach Khartoum, but (as I said) with difficulty. Access remains an issue for us.”

HUNGERFACTS

* 783m People worldwide unsure of where their next meal will come from.

* 345m People facing high levels of food insecurity globally in 2023.

* 129,000 People in Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan set to experience famine.

* $25.6m Saudi donation to the WFP for Syrian refugees in Jordanian camps since 2021.

Yahia reiterated that nearly half of the Sudanese population is experiencing food insecurity. The situation was dire even before violence erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group on April 15.

“The conflict came and added more oil to the fires that were already burning,” he said. “Sudan was a host to refugees from other countries as well, despite the (precarious) economic situation. So, 19 million people are projected to need humanitarian assistance. Now we are facing issues like access because of the security situation.”

While the Sudan crisis and climate change wreak havoc on famished populations in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, one conflict threatens the food security of the entire world: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Given that the two supplied more than a quarter of the world’s wheat — 40 percent of WFP’s supplies of the cereal — the 2022 invasion threatened to cause a massive food shortage and spike in food prices worldwide, particularly for countries relying on food aid.

“We have seen, of course, sharp increases in April 2022 following the eruption of the war there, which at that time (compounded the rise) in shipping costs because you had the effect of the COVID, of the supply chain disruption at that time,” Yahia said.




Abdel-Mageed Yahia, director of the UAE Office & Representative to the GCC, UN World Food Programme, speaking during an interview with Arab News en Francais Regional Manager Ali Itani. (AN Photo)

Global food prices have returned to pre-invasion levels, he said, but warned that the ongoing conflicts may cause the supply situation to deteriorate once again.

“We will continue to see a reduction in the production of food in Ukraine because farmers cannot access their farms because of landmines, because of (problems in getting) access to ports, and so on,” he said.

According to Yahia, the WFP was able to provide approximately two billion meals to Ukrainians affected by war, and has maintained its presence on the ground as a third of Ukrainians still face food insecurity.

In July Russia withdrew from a year-old UN and Turkiye-brokered agreement that had allowed grain, foodstuffs, fertilizers and other commodities to be shipped from Ukraine’s blockaded Black Sea ports to some of the world’s most food-insecure countries.

Yahia says the collapse of the grain deal and closure of the critical Black Sea corridor could have effects far beyond the borders of Ukraine. “This might see an increase, of course, of the shipping costs to source these commodities from elsewhere in the world,” he said.




Boys stand in line as they wait to receive meals from a charity kitchen in Sanaa, Yemen. (Reuters/File Photo)

Though conflict is the main reason for the spread of hunger worldwide, climate change is also playing a major role in causing food insecurity, according to Yahia, who has more than 30 years’ experience working in the humanitarian field and has served in areas devasted by wars, genocide, famine as well as natural disasters. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2019 report Climate Change and Land stated that climate change has already begun to affect food security, particularly in low-latitude regions and arid climates of Africa.

Pastoral societies, the report added, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of changing climate.

“Climate is playing a role similar to conflict when it comes to reduction in the production of food, in terms of displacement of population, as we saw last year in the Horn of Africa, Somalia and Ethiopia among other places,” Yahia said.

“I think climate is really playing a big role here. It can no longer be talked about inside just closed rooms. Climate is a real thing affecting global food security.”

 


Hundreds of thousands flee as Israel seizes Rafah in new Gaza ‘security zone’

Updated 8 sec ago
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Hundreds of thousands flee as Israel seizes Rafah in new Gaza ‘security zone’

  • Airstrike kills at least 27 Palestinians, including women and children, inside a school building

GAZA: Hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter on Thursday in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah, part of a newly announced “security zone” they intend to seize.

A day after declaring their intention to capture large swaths of the crowded enclave, Israeli forces pushed into the city on Gaza’s southern edge, which had served as a last refuge for people fleeing other areas for much of the war.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported at least 97 people killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, including at least 20 killed in an airstrike around dawn in Shejaia, a suburb of Gaza City in the north.

FASTFACT

The assault to capture Rafah is a significant escalation in the war, which Israel restarted last month after effectively abandoning a ceasefire in place since January.

Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 27 Palestinians, including women and children, inside a school building that served as a shelter for displaced families in Gaza City, local health authorities said.
The Israeli military claimed the attack hit key Palestinian “terrorists.”
Medics said three missiles slammed into the Dar Al-Arqam school building in Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, and the Israeli military said it struck a command center that militants had used to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and army troops.
Rafah “is gone, it is being wiped out,” a father of seven among the hundreds of thousands who had fled from Rafah to neighboring Khan Younis, said via a chat app.
“They are knocking down what is left standing of houses and property,” said the man.
The assault to capture Rafah is a significant escalation in the war, which Israel restarted last month after effectively abandoning a ceasefire in place since January.
In Shejaia in the north, one of the districts where Israel has ordered the population to leave, hundreds of residents streamed out on Thursday, some carrying their belongings as they walked, others on donkey carts and bikes or in vans.
“I want to die. Let them kill us and free us from this life. We’re not living, we’re dead,” said Umm Aaed Bardaa.
In Khan Younis, where a strike killed several people, Adel Abu Fakher was checking the damage to his tent: “There’s nothing left for us. We’re being killed while asleep,” he said.
Israel has not spelled out its long-term aims for the security zone its troops are now seizing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops were taking an area he called the “Morag Axis,” a reference to an abandoned former Israeli settlement between Rafah and Khan Younis.
Gazans who had returned to homes in the ruins during the ceasefire have now been ordered to flee communities on the northern and southern edges of the strip.
They fear Israel intends to depopulate those areas indefinitely, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people permanently homeless while Israel seizes some of Gaza’s last agricultural land and critical water infrastructure.
Since the first phase of the ceasefire expired at the start of March with no agreement to prolong it, Israel has imposed a total blockade on all goods for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, recreating what international organizations call a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel’s military said on Thursday it was investigating the deaths of 15 Palestinian aid workers found buried in a shallow grave in March near Red Crescent vehicles, an incident that caused global alarm.
The military said troops fired on the cars, believing they carried fighters.
Israel’s stated goal since the start of the war has been the destruction of the Hamas militant group, which ran Gaza for nearly two decades.
But with no effort made to establish an alternative administration, Hamas returned to control during the ceasefire.
Fighters still hold 59 dead and living hostages Israel says must be handed over to extend the truce temporarily; Hamas says it will free them only under a deal that permanently ends the war.
Israeli leaders say they have been encouraged by signs of protest in Gaza against Hamas, with hundreds of people demonstrating in north Gaza’s Beit Lahiya on Wednesday. Hamas calls the protesters collaborators and says Israel is behind them.
The war began with an attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023 with gunmen taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.
Rafah residents said most of the local population had followed Israel’s order to leave as Israeli strikes toppled buildings there.
However, a strike on the main road between Khan Younis and Rafah stopped most movement between the cities.
The movement of people and traffic along the western coastal road near Morag was also limited by bombardment.
“Others stayed because they don’t know where to go, or got fed up of being displaced several times. We are afraid they might be killed or at best detained,” said Basem, a resident of Rafah who declined to give a second name.

 


Lebanese leaders reach consensus on border demarcation to present to US envoy

Updated 5 min 15 sec ago
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Lebanese leaders reach consensus on border demarcation to present to US envoy

  • President Aoun tells top military officers: Lebanon’s interests are above everything else
  • Joseph Aoun: It is the state that protects Lebanon, not its sects

BEIRUT: Lebanese leaders have reached a unified position on border demarcation to present to Morgan Ortagus, the US envoy, who is scheduled to arrive in Beirut before the end of the week.

President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, agreed that there “will be no negotiations with the Israeli side regarding (a) prisoner swap or withdrawal from the Lebanese hills still occupied by the Israeli Army,” a source in the government told Arab News on Thursday.

“However, Lebanon is open to discussing disputed land border points,” the source added.

“Regardless of the US envoy’s proposals, the Lebanese stance remains unchanged,” said the source, who clarified that the Lebanese Army “is fulfilling its duties by being deployed south of the Litani River and confiscating weapons in the border area, as acknowledged by the US side overseeing the ceasefire monitoring committee and the UNIFIL forces.”

The source said that the military had made significant progress on the issue, destroying weapons and ammunition seized from Hezbollah sites.

Aoun told top security officials on Thursday that Lebanon’s interests comes above anything else.

He was speaking during a visit to the leadership of the Internal Security Forces and the General Security Directorate.

“We have a great opportunity to seize at all levels, and we must show the people that we are mature enough to build the state and that we will build it,” he said.

The president called on security bodies to “remain unaffiliated with anyone, serve only Lebanon’s interests, and enforce the law,” noting that “the world is ready to help us, but we must first help ourselves.”

Aoun stated: “Lebanon’s interest comes above anything else. It is the state that protects Lebanon, not its sects. Parties and sects prioritize their interests, whereas your duty is to serve Lebanon.

“You must reject any demands or interference that might harm the nation’s interests and prompt people to respect the law, keeping in mind that no request outside the law will be tolerated.”

Also on Thursday, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, the highest Maronite religious authority in Lebanon, said the time “has come to unify weapons in Lebanon, as stipulated in the Taif Agreement.”

He also told the Lebanese Editors Syndicate that the military “needs strengthening and support from other nations, but the solution now is diplomatic, as we are incapable of engaging in war, and no one can confront Israel.

“What has the resistance achieved with all its weapons against the Israeli war machine,” he asked, adding “now is not the time for normalization with Israel, as there are other issues that must be addressed first, such as border demarcation and disarmament.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would not withdraw from the five positions it controls in Lebanon.

He was speaking during a visit to an Israeli military site in southern Lebanon — one of the five hills still occupied since the ceasefire declaration in November.

At the site, which is near the Israeli settlement of Margaliot, Katz stated Israel’s presence at the five locations will be determined not by time but by the situation on the ground.

“Only if Hezbollah disarms and withdraws from the border can we discuss the withdrawal of the Israeli Army from these positions, and this matter is being coordinated with the Americans,” he said.

Katz anticipated “an increase in activity among Palestinian organizations, including Hamas, in Lebanon and Syria.”

He stated: “We are working to prevent the arming of Hezbollah and Palestinian organizations. The challenge will begin and intensify.”

Katz claimed that Hezbollah “is not a protector of Lebanon.”

He added: “The Iranians now realize that it is no longer capable of defending them.”

Elsewhere, an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle on the main road between Bint Jbeil and Yaroun in the border area.

The drone struck the vehicle from behind, resulting in two injuries, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

The Israeli military conducted airstrikes around Naqoura and one strike in the town’s center, targeting pre-fabricated homes as replacements for the destroyed houses and facilities.

These pre-fabricated facilities were being used to meet citizens’ needs, serving as a substitute for the municipal building, destroyed by Israel following the ceasefire, said Naqoura Mayor Abbas Awada.

He highlighted that recent aggression occurring in proximity to UNIFIL headquarters falls “under the jurisdiction of the five-member ceasefire monitoring committee and UNIFIL forces.”

Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Authority reported that Israeli strikes destroyed a “newly established civil defense center and damaged ambulances and firefighting vehicles.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Armed Forces have taken proactive measures, with military units removing “engineering obstacles placed by Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory” near Al-Labouna in the Tyre region.

The military also closed an unauthorized dirt road created by Israeli units in the same area.

In an official statement, the Lebanese Army Command affirmed its ongoing commitment to “addressing Israeli violations through close coordination with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism and UNIFIL.”

The Army Command condemned Israel’s “persistent violations of Lebanese sovereignty and targeting of civilians across multiple regions.”

In another development, UNIFIL Western Sector Commander Gen. Nicola Mandolisi conducted his first meeting with Khirbet Selem Mayor Mohammed Rahhal.

Their joint statement highlighted “UNIFIL’s commitment to facilitating the safe return of displaced residents and supporting Lebanese military operations through strategic partnerships with the Fifth Brigade and the Second and Fifth Rapid Intervention Regiments, key components in regional stabilization efforts.”


South Sudan clashes kill 30: local official

Updated 14 min 28 sec ago
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South Sudan clashes kill 30: local official

  • The attack in northern Ruweng Administrative Area began earlier in the week
  • Local media reported that some of those killed were members of the armed groups

JUBA: At least 30 people were killed when a northern South Sudanese town was briefly overrun by an armed youth group, a local official said Thursday, following a cattle raid.
Clashes involving pastoralists and settled farming communities are common in the world’s youngest country, but this incident comes as tensions rise over South Sudan’s fragile political situation.
The attack in northern Ruweng Administrative Area began earlier in the week when a group of armed youth stole lambs before they were scared off by security forces, said Simon Chol Mialith, the local Minister of Information.
The following day, he told AFP, the group returned in greater numbers and attacked Abiemnom, and although “the youth and the security forces tried to defend the town, they were overrun by the Mayom armed youth.”
On Wednesday the South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF) drove the group from the settlement, Mialith said, where calm has now been restored.
“The number has risen to 30 people confirmed dead and over 40 persons wounded,” he said, without giving further details.
Local media reported that some of those killed were members of the armed groups, but AFP was unable to confirm this.
The incident comes as forces allied to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar clash across the country, sparking regional concern and threatening a fragile peace deal in 2018 that ended a five-year civil war.
South Sudan has been bedevilled by instability and insecurity since independence in 2011, and despite its natural oil resources remains deeply impoverished.


Palestinian Authority calls on Hungary to arrest Netanyahu

Updated 34 min 4 sec ago
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Palestinian Authority calls on Hungary to arrest Netanyahu

  • The governing body of the International Criminal Court voiced regret and concern over Hungary’s announcement that it was leaving the court, saying any departure harmed a “shared quest for justice”

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority has urged Hungary to arrest visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
“The ministry calls on the Hungarian government ... to comply with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant by immediately handing Netanyahu over to bring him to justice,” the Ramallah-based Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement hours after Hungary announced it would withdraw from the ICC.
The governing body of the International Criminal Court voiced regret and concern over Hungary’s announcement that it was leaving the court, saying any departure harmed a “shared quest for justice.”
“When a state party withdraws from the Rome Statute (that established the ICC), it clouds our shared quest for justice and weakens our resolve to fight impunity,” the presidency of the Assembly of State Parties said in a statement.
The court is “at the center of the global commitment to accountability,” and the international community should “support it without reservation,” the statement added.
“Justice requires our unity.”
The governing body also extended an olive branch to Hungary, which earlier Thursday announced it was starting the one-year process to withdraw from the ICC.
Every court member “has the right to voice its concerns before the Assembly,” it said.
“The presidency strongly encourages Hungary to have a meaningful discussion on this issue.”
In the meantime, the body urged Hungary to “continue to be a resolute party to the Rome Statute.”
Budapest said it was quitting the ICC just as Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted Netanyahu.

 


Israeli military says it holds special probe into Gaza aid worker deaths

Updated 03 April 2025
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Israeli military says it holds special probe into Gaza aid worker deaths

  • The military’s Southern Command had transferred the investigation to a general staff mechanism outside the chain of command
  • Israel has not directly addressed the accusation that its forces deliberately killed health workers

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military is conducting an investigation into an incident in Gaza in which a number of emergency and aid workers were killed, a military spokesperson said on Thursday, rejecting a description of the incident as an “execution.”
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the military’s Southern Command had transferred the investigation to a general staff mechanism outside the chain of command to establish what happened and “hold accountable people if we need to.”
Last month, the bodies of 15 workers from the Red Crescent, Palestinian Civil Defense and United Nations were found buried in a shallow grave at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, close to their wrecked vehicles.
Israel has not directly addressed the accusation that its forces deliberately killed health workers but the military has described an incident on March 23, when it said its troops fired on vehicles bearing Red Crescent markings near Rafah, killing nine members of militant groups.
“Our initial investigation found that there were terrorists in these cars, using those Red Crescent cars,” Shoshani told a briefing with journalists.
Asked how the troops knew that there were militants in the cars, he said: “It is based on different ways of intelligence and also based on the information gathered on the ground at the time of the event.”
He said troops later also fired on other unmarked vehicles that approached without emergency lights or prior coordination.
“I can’t go into the reasoning and what they did because this is under investigation,” Shoshani said. “We will investigate this incident and once we have the answers, we’ll put them out clearly and communicate everything we know and everything we’ve found,” he said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent, which said eight of its staff had been killed in the incident, said Israel had targeted the group and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
The medical team had been sent into Rafah as Israeli forces were advancing into the area after resuming operations in Gaza on March 18, following a two month-long truce, UN officials have said.
When the bodies were found, they were still in their medical uniforms and wearing gloves.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the people had been killed by Israeli forces and demanded “answers and justice.”
Shoshani denied reports that some bodies in the grave had been found with hands tied, and rejected the term “execution” to describe what happened during what he called “an operational event.”
“Not an execution,” he said.