The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Monday warned that the United States has halted emergency food aid to 14 countries, a move the agency says could lead to the deaths of millions facing extreme hunger and starvation.
The WFP, already struggling with a 40 percent drop in funding for 2025, said it was informed of the cuts by Washington but did not publicly name the affected countries.
“If implemented, this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation,” the agency said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
The funding suspension comes amid a broader trend of U.S. withdrawal from global humanitarian efforts under President Donald Trump, whose administration has prioritized a more isolationist foreign policy.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also confirmed that the Trump administration had cancelled two major reproductive health programs — one in Afghanistan and another in Syria.
The United States has long been the single largest contributor to global aid efforts, with USAID alone once responsible for 42 percent of the world’s total aid disbursements. However, the agency has seen severe budget cuts, slashing its previous annual budget of $42.8 billion.
International organizations and aid groups have expressed growing concern over the pullback from U.S. funding, with several other donor countries also scaling down contributions in recent months. The result, many warn, is a rapidly worsening global humanitarian crisis.
The WFP, already struggling with a 40 percent drop in funding for 2025, said it was informed of the cuts by Washington but did not publicly name the affected countries.
“If implemented, this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation,” the agency said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
The funding suspension comes amid a broader trend of U.S. withdrawal from global humanitarian efforts under President Donald Trump, whose administration has prioritized a more isolationist foreign policy.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also confirmed that the Trump administration had cancelled two major reproductive health programs — one in Afghanistan and another in Syria.
The United States has long been the single largest contributor to global aid efforts, with USAID alone once responsible for 42 percent of the world’s total aid disbursements. However, the agency has seen severe budget cuts, slashing its previous annual budget of $42.8 billion.
International organizations and aid groups have expressed growing concern over the pullback from U.S. funding, with several other donor countries also scaling down contributions in recent months. The result, many warn, is a rapidly worsening global humanitarian crisis.
