UN: Food Challenge At Worst Level Since World War II

The World Food Program is confronting its worst challenge since World War II in trying to tackle five top-level humanitarian crises at the same time, the head of the U.N. agency said Friday.

Ertharin Cousin said in an interview with The Associated Press that the five crises — in Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa — currently require large-scale operations by WFP and other humanitarian agencies.

Cousin said the U.N. is currently feeding five million people in Yemen “and it could get worse.” In Nigeria, she said, WFP is watching increasing malnutrition cases in the north and studying opportunities to provide assistance. In Ukraine, the agency has reached 50,000 people and is working to increase food assistance to 190,000 people on both sides in the conflict-torn east over the next few weeks, she said.

Cousin said WFP is helping 58,000 people in Libya through local non-governmental organizations and is watching the evolving political situation and assessing a “scale-up” in operations.

The Huffington Post