More than a million people in war-torn Myanmar will be left without food aid due to a severe funding shortfall, the UN Food Programme said on Friday.
The WFP said in a statement that most of the food packages currently being distributed in Myanmar will be stopped in April, even as the country faces a critical humanitarian crisis caused by brutal fighting between the military government and powerful militias that oppose its authority.
WFP said $60 million (£46 million) would be needed to continue providing food assistance to Myanmar and called on its partners to seek additional funding.
It is unclear whether the WFP's decision is directly related to the Donald Trump administration's moves in the United States to cut most foreign aid and disband the United States Agency for International Development, which has had a significant impact on humanitarian efforts around the world.
Asked whether the drop in funding for Myanmar was due to cuts from the US, Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York: “It's all connected,” stressing that the US is a significant donor to the WFP.
He noted that all UN agencies are actively cooperating with the American authorities to “explain to them the damage that has been caused.”
Activists and Thai officials said Mr Trump's 90-day freeze on foreign aid programs had led to other cuts in services for refugees from Myanmar, including the closure of health care in camps in neighboring Thailand that house more than 100,000 people.
The US has been “the main donor to the food security and livelihoods sector in Myanmar”, but there was already a shortfall last year, with humanitarian needs only being met at 40%, a senior aid official in Asia said.
She said the new cuts had created a “devastating situation” by forcing NGOs to discontinue many programs, with the greatest impact on vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, women and children.
“The work to save lives must continue,” she said.
“We simply cannot stop it because if we stop it, people will not survive. However, the funding shortfalls we face have forced us to close programmes that are a lifeline for many in Myanmar.”
The armed conflict in Myanmar began after the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed mass peaceful protests seeking to restore democratic rights.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
