World Food Program Running out of Money for Congo Operations

This is probably the worst thing you will see today, but you should still view it.

It is not very expensive to feed someone via the WFP, only costing about 10 cents/person/day. WFP says it needs $75 million to fund its activities in DRC through May 2014.

In the last six months, funding shortages have meant that WFP has already had to halve the rations distributed to displaced people in North Kivu province, at a time when the overall food security situation is deteriorating in that part of eastern DRC. Indeed, according to a recent survey conducted jointly by the provincial government of North Kivu and WFP, six out of ten families are food insecure, against three out of ten two years ago.

In North and South Kivu and in Orientale provinces, some 500,000 food-insecure displaced people will be affected by the funding crisis. The provision of daily hot meals to thousands of schoolchildren is also in jeopardy, as is life-saving nutritional support to some 180,000 malnourished children, pregnant women and nursing mothers across the country.

“We are very worried about the fate of thousands of people who depend on WFP food assistance,” said Martin Ohlsen, WFP Representative in DRC. “At a time when the Congolese Government and the international community are intensifying their efforts to stabilize the eastern DRC, a suspension, even a reduction, of humanitarian assistance could seriously compromise our long-standing investment in improving food security, restoring livelihoods and building resilience.”

“It’s hard not to think that the tremendous needs in the Philippines and Syria are overshadowing cries for help from less visible, under-reported parts of the world,” added Ohlsen, stressing the need for predictable funding over coming months.

The fact is, there is enough wealth in our world to support the caloric requirements of people displaced by conflict. It’s our collective shame that we are not mustering the meagre resources to do so.  Here’s how you can help.