More than a million people in war-torn Myanmar will be left without food aid due to a severe funding shortage, the UN Food Programme said on Friday.
The World Food Programme says most of the food supplies currently being distributed in Myanmar will be stopped in April, even as the country faces a dire humanitarian crisis sparked by violent clashes between the military government and powerful militias opposed to its rule.
WFP said it needed $60 million (£46 million) to continue providing food assistance to Myanmar and called on its partners to find 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 work 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: “Everything is connected,” stressing that the US is a major WFP donor.
He added that all UN agencies are actively cooperating with the American authorities “to inform them of the immediate damage that has been caused.”
A 90-day freeze on foreign aid programs announced by Mr. Trump has led to other cuts in services for refugees from Myanmar, including the closure of health services in camps in neighboring Thailand that house more than 100,000 people, activists and Thai officials said.
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 40% funded, a senior aid official in Asia said.
She noted that the new cuts had created a “devastating situation,” forcing NGOs to abandon many programs, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, women and children.
“The work to save lives must continue,” she added.
“We just can't stop it because if we stop it, people won't survive. But the lack of funding that we're facing has forced us to close programs that I think are a lifeline for a lot of people in Myanmar.”
Nationwide armed conflict in Myanmar began after the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 202
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
