Employees of the WFP preparing food aid packages to be distributed in Sagaing, Myanmar, on March 28, 2025. (Credit: Sai Aung Main.)
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced Monday that it has been notified by Washington of new budget cuts concerning emergency food aid in 14 countries, fearing the "death penalty for thousands of people."
The WFP, which has already suffered a 40% decrease in funding for 2025, "is very concerned about recent notifications from the American administration indicating that funding for emergency food aid in 14 countries has been terminated," the U.N. agency wrote on X, without specifying which countries were affected. "If implemented, this would represent the death penalty for millions of people facing extreme hunger and famine," it warned. "We are in contact with the American administration to seek clarification and to call for continued support for these vital programs," the WFP stated.
The new cuts are not limited to the WFP.
Thus, the U.S. administration informed the U.N. Population Fund on Friday of the end of two new programs, the mother and child health agency told AFP on Monday. One concerns Afghanistan for an amount of $24 million, the other Syria. Announcements of cuts in international aid have multiplied in recent months, particularly from the U.S., raising concerns among NGOs and international organizations.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump similarly eliminated 83%, or "tens of billions of dollars," from programs of the U.S. development agency USAID, which previously managed an annual budget of $42.8 billion, or 42% of humanitarian aid disbursed globally.
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