The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday, July 23, that it will be forced to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in northeastern Nigeria at the end of the month due to critical funding shortfalls.
“WFP’s food and nutrition stocks have been completely exhausted. The organization’s last supplies left warehouses in early July and life-saving assistance will end after the current round of distributions is completed,” the UN agency said in a press release.
“Without immediate funding, millions of vulnerable people will face impossible choices: endure increasingly severe hunger, migrate, or possibly risk exploitation by extremist groups in the region,” it added.
WFP country director for Nigeria David Stevenson was cited in the press release as saying that “nearly 31 million people in Nigeria are now facing acute hunger, a record number”.
“At the same time, WFP’s operations in northeast Nigeria will collapse without immediate, sustained funding. This is no longer just a humanitarian crisis, it’s a growing threat to regional stability, as families pushed beyond their limits are left with nowhere to turn,” WFP quoted Stevenson as saying.
The UN food agency said it requires $130 million to prevent “an imminent pipeline break and sustain food and nutrition operations through the end of 2025”.
It, however, warned that the critical funding gap was paralysing its operations and putting life-saving programmes in jeopardy.
