World Food Programme Closes Its Southern Africa Office
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is closing its southern Africa office due to cuts in U.S. aid, reported the Associated Press.
Tomson Phiri, a WFP spokesperson announced on Monday that the WFP had planned to streamline its structure in 2023, but with donor funding becoming more limited, it had to accelerate these efforts.
The Southern Africa office in Johannesburg will close, and operations will be consolidated into a regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. However, the food programme will continue. Wrote Phiri:
Our commitment to serving vulnerable communities is as strong as ever, and WFP remains committed to ensuring our operations are as effective and efficient as possible in meeting the needs of those facing hunger.
Last week, the Trump administration announced it was cutting 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts, halting $60 billion in humanitarian spending worldwide.
This decision follows southern Africa’s worst drought in decades, which destroyed crops and threatened 27 million people with hunger, according to the WFP. Even before the U.S. cuts, the WFP had called for $147 million in donations to assist those in need.
The WFP provides food aid to over 150 million people across 120 countries and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. Its last six leaders, including current director Cindy McCain, have all been Americans.
Few U.N. agencies have specified how U.S. aid cuts will impact their work. The U.N.’s International Organisation for Migration has reportedly cut 3,000 jobs, and UNFPA expects its operations to be affected.
Many U.N. agencies are still assessing the impact and whether waivers might allow some programmes to continue receiving U.S. donations.
