World Food Program

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US Says Strike on Gaza Food Convoy 'Unacceptable'

Truck at IDF checkpoint was hit by fire from Israeli warship, reports CNN

(Newser) - Gunfire that hit a United Nations food convoy on its way to northern Gaza earlier this month, causing the suspension of food deliveries to the region, apparently came from Israeli warships, CNN reports. Nobody was injured in the Feb. 5 strike but the truck's contents, desperately needed wheat flour,...

Could North Korea See Another 'Arduous March'?

Nation is mired in its worst food shortage since its mid-'90s famine

(Newser) - As North Korea continues to launch ICBMs and lob threats , it's also contending with a familiar problem: a food shortage, though this time experts say it's particularly bad. Per Fox News , South Korea's Unification Ministry says the food situation "seems to have deteriorated" in its northern...

Afghans Sell Daughters, Kidneys to Stave Off Hunger

Some parents are drugging their hungry children instead

(Newser) - It's no wonder Afghanistan is the world's unhappiest country . Afghans struggling to survive amid Taliban rule are selling their daughters and kidneys just to feed their families, and that isn't always enough. Amidst an economic crisis spurred in part by a freeze on foreign funds, one of...

UN Food Chief to Musk: 'We Need Your Help, Brother'

David Beasley wants billionaires to step up, saying the situation is serious

(Newser) - The head of the United Nations' World Food Program is telling billionaires it's "time to step up" as the global threat of food insecurity rises with Russia's war in Ukraine. Executive Director David Beasley said he's seen encouraging signs from some of the world's richest...

UN Food Chief Sees 'Catastrophe on Top of a Catastrophe'

Says rations are having to be cut due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine

(Newser) - The UN food chief warned Tuesday the war in Ukraine has created "a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe" and will have a global impact "beyond anything we’ve seen since World War II" because many of the Ukrainian farmers who produce a significant amount of the world’...

Frenzied Interpretations After Musk Shares Ancient Poem

There was no real context to the quoting of the Quatrain of Seven Steps

(Newser) - Talking heads are trying to figure out what the world's richest man meant in tweeting lines from an ancient Chinese poem on Tuesday. Elon Musk caused a stir—on Twitter, where the Tesla and SpaceX CEO counts 62 million followers, and on Chinese social media site Weibo, where he...

Elon Musk Answers UN Challenge on Hunger Donation

Tesla founder questions whether $6B will solve the problem

(Newser) - Challenged by a United Nations official to donate enough money to help solve world hunger, Elon Musk responded with a challenge of his own. David Beasley, director of the World Food Program, had called on Musk, Jeff Bezos, and others among the world's wealthiest people to make a one-time...

2020 Nobel Peace Prize Goes to World Food Program

Organization praised for efforts to fight hunger

(Newser) - This year's Nobel Peace Prize has gone to the world's largest humanitarian organization. In a virtual ceremony Friday, the Nobel Committee announced that it is honoring the United Nations' World Food Program for its efforts fighting hunger and food insecurity worldwide, the BBC reports. "In the face...

UN Warns a 'Biblical' Famine Is Possible

World Food Program executive director says it could happen within months

(Newser) - The head of the UN food agency warned Tuesday that, as the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it is also "on the brink of a hunger pandemic" that could lead to "multiple famines of biblical proportions" within a few months if immediate action isn’t taken....

UN Zaps Hunger Report on Myanmar, Raising Suspicions

'There was a real sense that they had things to hide'

(Newser) - A July report describing near starvation in Myanmar's Rakhine state has been expunged from the UN website—at Myanmar's request. Myanmar was upset with the report's claim that military forces were blocking access to food for the Rohingya even before a government crackdown led 537,000 to...

Despite Sanctions, S. Korea Lends Helping Hand to North

Via $8M in humanitarian aid, which some critics aren't happy about

(Newser) - Despite the UN approving new sanctions against North Korea this month, South Korea is offering its neighbor a helping hand. For the first time in nearly two years, the South Korean government says it plans to deliver $8 million in humanitarian aid to vulnerable groups in the North by way...

Starving Somalis Leaving Children on 'Death Roads'

UN airlifting food to militant-controlled areas

(Newser) - Starving refugees and their children from famine-stricken Somalia are dying on their way to aid centers, the chief of the United Nations World Food Program warns. Desperate mothers have been forced to abandon dead or dying children along "roads of death" as they trek for days, sometimes weeks, to...

North Korea Begs West for Food

But US, others, not so sure that's a great idea

(Newser) - North Korea is so hungry that it has, for the moment at least, abandoned its trademark bluster and started begging foreign governments for food, the Washington Post reports. But the US, which was the largest provider of food aid to North Korea until it shut off shipments two years ago,...

UN Relief Can't Keep Up With World's Hunger

World Food Program is short nearly $3 billion

(Newser) - The UN's food aid agency has only about half the money it needs to feed the world's hungry as rises in food prices take their toll, the AP reports. The World Food Program is $2.8 billion short of what it needs, says director Josette Sheera, and the shortfall is...

Haiti Aid Piles Up at Bottlenecks as Unrest Grows

Medicine, bandages, food stuck at port, airport, warehouses

(Newser) - Massive amounts of aid are arriving in Haiti only to hit bottlenecks at the Port-au-Prince airport, the port or warehouses, where medicine, bandages, and other desperately needed supplies are piling up. Clogged roads, a crippled government, and outbreaks of violence mean that the aid flowing into Haiti is reaching earthquake...

Haiti Tries 'Women-Only' Aid
 Haiti Tries 'Women-Only' Aid 
Jan 31, 2010 8:57 AM CST

Haiti Tries 'Women-Only' Aid

Coupons meant to circumvent young men who cut in line

(Newser) - Haiti relief workers are handing out women-only food coupons, launching a new phase of what they hope will be less cutthroat aid distribution to ensure that families and the weak get supplies following Haiti's devastating earthquake. Young men often force their way to the front of aid delivery lines or...

Anger Erupts at US Takeover of Haiti Airport

France, Brazil, Red Cross furious at flight diversions

(Newser) - The global relief effort in Haiti has devolved into a nasty power struggle, with countries and aid agencies furious at the US takeover of emergency operations. France, Brazil, which runs the UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti, Doctors Without Borders, and the Red Cross all lodged complaints after their aid shipments...

Suicide Bomber Kills 5 at Pakistan UN Office

Terrorist infiltrated World Food Program headquarters

(Newser) - A suicide bomber disguised as a security officer infiltrated UN offices in the Pakistani capital today, killing five people and leaving several others critically injured. Witnesses said the blast at the UN World Food Program, in one of Islamabad's more exclusive neighborhoods, shattered windows and left victims lying in pools...

Famine Fear Returns to Ethiopia

(Newser) - Almost 25 years after Live Aid aimed to eradicate famine in Ethiopia, the country is facing new threats of malnutrition and mass starvation, the Independent reports. Ethiopia's erratic rains are the main culprit, failing to fall or coming too little too late, while recession-minded donors in wealthy nations are also...

UN: Hunger Affects Record 1B
 UN: Hunger Affects Record 1B 
Jun 20, 2009 8:17 AM CDT

UN: Hunger Affects Record 1B

Food program directors warn that hunger crisis threatens world peace

(Newser) - United Nations food officials warn that a record 1 billion people worldwide aren't getting enough to eat, the BBC reports. The UN said the number of people affected by hunger—defined as getting less than 1,800 calories daily—has jumped by 100 million people over the last year because...

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