The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , WFP
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing Appeal For Funding For Refugees in Eastern Africa WFP - UNHCR 03 March 2021
“Having to reduce on what is not enough, is something that breaks our heart”, says the World Food programme (WFP) on cutting its food rations across East Africa
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, appealed today for US$266 million to end food ration cuts for over 3 million refugees in East Africa. During the last months, WFP has been forced to implement ration cuts for refugees in Uganda (40%), Kenya (40%), South Sudan (30%), Djibouti (23%) and Ethiopia (16%).
Speaking to journalists at a news briefing today at the United Nations, Tomson Phiri, WFP’s spokesperson said that “critical funding shortages have forced cuts of up to 60 percent, compromising long-standing efforts to achieve food security in camps”. He adds that “East Africa hosts one of the largest displaced populations of any region in the world, with some 4.4 million refugees and 8.1 million internally displaced people as of end-2020”.
This is not the first time that WFP had to cut rations in east Africa. Food rations in Uganda had been already reduced due to funding constraints.
The impact of the funding shortfalls on refugee families is compounded by COVID-19 lockdowns and measures to contain the pandemic’s spread, which had already reduced the availability of food in markets in refugee camps and wrecked many refugees’ hopes of helping to support their families through casual labour and small businesses.
According to Tomson Phiri, “the most dramatic cut is in Rwanda, where starting from this March, refugees will have their rations cut by 60% meaning that refugees will only receive 40 percent of the recommended minimum daily kilocalories”.
However, Phiri notes that “as our refugee programme in Rwanda is completely cash transfers, we can quickly reverse this situation but only if we can receive additional funding”.
WFP reported that people arrive in very bad shape in camps and that they are seeing a spike in malnutrition rates. The concern is that malnutrition becomes even more difficult to treat, particular among the most vulnerable ones, children and women. WFP fears that refugees will continue to struggle, as its spokesperson pointed out.
“The assistance that we provide is a basic meal”, he said. “It’s just enough for people to survive, and having to reduce on already what is not enough, is something that breaks our heart, but we are forced to do it in order to spread widely the food that is available”.
Refugees rely on humanitarian assistance to survive and when food rations are reduced, it does get more difficult for them. Ration cuts have extremely serious implications that go beyond food and nutrition security. “When food is in short supply, protection concerns including sexual and gender-based violence increases in the camps and this can also serve to significantly escalate tensions even within hosting areas”, Tomson Phiri said. “If WFP is forced to continue cutting rations, this could prompt refugee communities to move within host countries or even across borders as they become more desperate to meet their basic needs”.
Mr. Phiri was supported by his colleague, Boris Cheshirkov, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) who confirmed that “these cuts will have dramatic consequences and without the funds, thousands of refugees, many of them being children will not have enough to eat”.
Cheshirkov added that “already the cuts in food rations and cash are forcing people to skip or reduce meals and sell up their belongings and the risks are growing including with child labour and domestic violence”.
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
- Wide shot, press briefing room, UN Palais
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “Critical funding shortages have forced cuts of up to 60 percent, compromising long-standing efforts to achieve food security in camps. East Africa hosts one of the largest displaced populations of any region in the world, with some 4.4 million refugees and 8.1 million internally displaced people as of end-2020”.
- Medium shot, spokesperson at podium in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “The most dramatic cut is in Rwanda, where starting from this March, refugees will have their rations cut by 60% meaning that refugees will only receive 40 percent of the recommended minimum daily kilocalories. As our refugee programme in Rwanda is completely cash transfers, we can quickly reverse this situation but only if we can receive additional funding”.
- Wide shot, spokesperson at podium in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “The assistance that we provide is a basic meal. It’s just enough for people to survive, and having to reduce on already what is not enough, is something that breaks our heart, but we are forced to do it in order to spread widely the food that is available”.
- Close up, zoom meeting on laptop
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “When food is in short supply, protection concerns including sexual and gender-based violence increases in the camps and this can also serve to significantly escalate tensions even within hosting areas. If WFP is forced to continue cutting rations, this could prompt refugee communities to move within host countries or even across borders as they become more desperate to meet their basic needs”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Boris Cheshirkov, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “These cuts will have dramatic consequences and without the funds, thousands of refugees, many of them being children will not have enough to eat. Already the cuts in food rations and cash are forcing people to skip or reduce meals and sell up their belongings and the risks are growing including with child labour and domestic violence”.
- Medium shot, journalists in press briefing room
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- Wide shot, spokespeople at podium
- Medium shot, monitor in press briefing room with WFP spokesperson
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.