WFP Head Says Funding Short For Food Emergencies In Pakistan, North Korea

“Hunger in Pakistan is at emergency levels after years of conflict and floods, but funding has dwindled as new crises such as Syria grab donors’ attention, the United Nations food aid chief said on Sunday,” Reuters reports. “[A]bout half of Pakistan’s population still does not have secure access to enough food, up from a little over a third a decade ago, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said,” the news agency writes, adding, “Fifteen percent of children are severely malnourished, and some 40 percent suffer from stunted growth.” According to Reuters, “[t]here is growing concern that international donors will lose interest in the unstable border areas after the withdrawal next year of U.S.-led foreign forces from Afghanistan.” In addition, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin “said the rising cost of the refugee crisis in Syria meant it was harder to attract funds to Pakistan,” as well as North Korea, which “is even worse hit by funding shortages,” the news agency notes (Daniel, 6/24).

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