The World Food Programme said on Friday it had halved the food rations distributed to 1.4 million Iraqis displaced in the war against Islamic State because of delays in payments of funds from donor states. "This year somehow we are receiving commitments from donors a little bit late, we are talking with donors but we don't have enough money as of yet," said Inger Marie Vennize, spokeswoman for the U.N. agency.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters. </s> ERBIL, Iraq: The World Food Programme said on Friday it had halved the food rations distributed to 1.4 million Iraqis displaced in the war against Islamic State because of delays in payments of funds from donor states.

"This year somehow we are receiving commitments from donors a little bit late, we are talking with donors but we don’t have enough money as of yet," said Inger Marie Vennize, spokeswoman for the U.N. agency.

"We have had to reduce (the rations) as of this month."

The WFP is talking to the United States - its biggest donor - Germany, Japan and others to secure funds to restore full rations, she added.

"The 50 percent cuts in monthly rations affect over 1.4 million people across Iraq," Vennize said.

The impact is already being felt in camps east of Mosul, the northern city controlled in part by Islamic State. About 160,000 people have been displaced since the military campaign to recapture Mosul from the Islamists was launched in October.

"They gave us a good amount of food in the beginning, but now they have reduced it," said Omar Shukri Mahmoud at the Hassan Sham camp.

"They are giving an entire family the food supply of one person ... And there is no work at all ... we want to go back home," he added.

"We are a big family and this ration is not going to be enough," said 39-year-old Safa Shaker, who has a family of 11.

"We escaped from Daesh (Islamic State) in order to have a chance to live and now we came here and they have cut the aid. How are we supposed to live?" she said as she cooked for the family.

About 3 million people have been displaced from their homes in Iraq since 2014, when Islamic State took over large areas of the country and of neighbouring Syria. </s> The World Food Programme (WFP) has slashed food rations distributed to 1.4 million displaced Iraqis by 50 percent because of delays in payments from donor states.

The sharp cutbacks come at a time when a growing number of Iraqis flee the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

We escaped from [ISIL] in order to have a chance to live and now they have cut the aid. How are we supposed to live? Safa Shaker, displaced Iraqi

At least 160,000 people have been displaced since October when the Iraqi military, backed by Kurdish forces and Shia militias. launched a military campaign to recapture Mosul from the armed group.

WFP spokeswoman Inger Marie Vennize said the UN agency was talking to the United States - its biggest donor, Germany, Japan and others to secure funds to restore full rations.

"We have had to reduce [the rations] as of this month," she was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

"The 50 percent cuts in monthly rations affect over 1.4 million people across Iraq," she added.

The effect is already being felt in camps east of Mosul, ISIL's last major bastion in northern Iraq.

"They are giving an entire family the food supply of one person ... we want to go back home," said Omar Shukri Mahmoud at the Hassan Sham camp.

Safa Shaker, who fled with her extended family, said: "We are a big family and this ration is not going to be enough.

"We escaped from [ISIL] in order to have a chance to live and now they have cut the aid. How are we supposed to live?" she added.

Mosul is still home to nearly 1.5 million people, who are at risk of being caught up in brutal urban warfare.

An estimated 650,000 people live without potable water in the city and the UN has warned of a potential humanitarian crisis and a refugee exodus. </s> "This year somehow we are receiving commitments from donors a little bit late.

We are talking with donors but we don't have enough money as of yet," spokesperson for the WFP Inger Marie Vennize told Reuters January 27. "We have had to reduce (the rations) as of this month."

Vennize said the 50% cuts in monthly rations would affect more than 1.4 million people across the country.

The reduction comes as more and more Iraqis are being displaced both by Daesh and by the US-supported push to finally oust the terrorist group from its stronghold in Mosul.

Mosul's estimated 1.5 million residents are currently caught up in vicious urban warfare between Daesh and Iraqi, Kurdish and American forces and Shia militias. Of the 1.4 million people in Iraq who received WFP assistance in November, more than 164,000 were individuals displaced by the battle for Mosul.

The WFP notes that it is also supplying food to families who have chosen not to leave their homes, and is delivering rations to those in need in the suburbs around the city.

"They are giving an entire family the food supply of one person… we want to go back home," Omar Shukri Mahmoud, an Iraqi living in the Hassan Sham camp, told Reuters.

Another woman, Safa Shaker, said the rations wouldn't be enough for her large extended family. "We escaped from [Daesh] in order to have a chance to live and now they have cut the aid. How are we supposed to live?"

The WFP, a UN agency, is talking to its major donors, including the biggest, the United States, but also Germany, Japan and others to scare up funding to bring rations back to their previous levels.

According to the WFP, more than 3.3 million Iraqis are currently internally displaced, largely since Daesh began taking over large areas of the country in 2014, and 2.4 million require immediate food assistance.

On its Iraq Emergency webpage, the WFP notes that it anticipated needing $88 million to deal with the displacement and hunger crisis the Mosul operation would inevitably create. "This will cover the procurement and pre-positioning of stocks to assist 1.4 million people for three months," it said.

At a donor meeting with the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands and Kuwait in July, almost $1 billion was pledged for stabilization, mine clearance and humanitarian needs, the agency reported.

"Information on how much is for the humanitarian response and how much had already been contributed by governments is not yet available," the WFP said </s> The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced plans to scale up food assistance across Borno and Yobe states from one million persons to 1.3 million beneficiaries monthly. Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the Executive Director of the WFP, Ertharin Cousin said that the programme aims to reach 1.8 million persons who urgently need food … Continue reading World Food Programme Targets 1.8million People

The post World Food Programme Targets 1.8million People appeared first on Channels Television. </s> According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the country, food and fuel supplies are dwindling, markets and shops have closed, running water is scarce and electricity in many neighborhoods is either intermittent or cut off.

"The situation is distressing. People, right now, are in trouble. We are hearing reports of parents struggling to feed their children and to heat their homes,?" said Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq.

According to estimates, between 750,000 and 800,000 civilians reside in the western section of Mosul.

However, few if any commercial supplies have reached the city in the past three months since the main road to Syria was cut-off.

Sources in the city also reported that nearly half of all food shops have closed and bakeries throughout the area have run out of fuel and many can no longer afford to purchase costly flour.

RELATED: UN fears new wave of displacement as fighting escalates in Mosul and Hawiga

Prices of fuel such as kerosene and cooking gas have skyrocketed and many of the most destitute families are burning wood, furniture, plastic or garbage for cooking and heating.

Families, children face critical shortage of drinking water, do not have enough to eat

According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) there are critical shortages of food and safe drinking water.

Three out of five people now depend on untreated waterUNICEF Representative in Iraq Peter Hawkins

"Three out of five people now depend on untreated water from wells for cooking and drinking as water systems and treatment plants have been damaged by fighting or run out of chlorine," said Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF Representative in Iraq.

"Food prices in western Mosul are almost double than in eastern Mosul," added Sally Haydock, the WFP Representative in the country, noting that many families do not have enough to eat.

Preparing to aid as many as 400,000 fleeing civilians

A UNICEF-supported water truck and trash collection programme at a camp in Al Qayyarah, Ninewa Governorate, Iraq. More than 6,000 people displaced from Mosul are residing at this camp. (file) Photo: OCHA / Philippe Kropf

According to OCHA, UN and humanitarian partners are rushing to prepare for the humanitarian impact of the military operation.

"We don't know what will happen during the military campaign but we have to be ready for all scenarios. Tens of thousands of people may flee or be forced to leave the city. Hundreds of thousands of civilians might be trapped — maybe for weeks, maybe for months,?" said Ms. Grande.

Emergency sites are being constructed south of the city and stocks of life-saving supplies are being pre-positioned for the 250,000-400,000 civilians who may flee.

"Protecting civilians is the highest priority in a situation like this — nothing is more important [...] The battle hasn't started but already there is a humanitarian crisis,?" the UN humanitarian official added. </s> UN says world faces worst humanitarian crisis since 1945 with tens of millions starving

The world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945, with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the United Nations humanitarian chief says.

Stephen O'Brien told the UN Security Council on Friday that "without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death" and "many more will suffer and die from disease".

He urged an immediate injection of funds for Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria plus safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid "to avert a catastrophe", describing the current situation as a "critical point" in history.

"To be precise," Mr O'Brien said, "we need $US4.4 billion by July".

Without a major infusion of money, he said, children will be stunted by severe malnutrition and will not be able to go to school, gains in economic development will be reversed and "livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost".

UN and food organisations define famine as when more than 30 percent of children younger than five suffer from acute malnutrition, and when mortality rates are two or more deaths per 10,000 people every day, among other criteria.

"Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine."

Mr O'Brien said the largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen where two-thirds of the population — some 18.8 million people — need urgent food aid.

"That is 3 million people more than in January," he said.

The Arab world's poorest nation is engulfed in conflict and Mr O'Brien said more than 48,000 people fled fighting just in the past two months.

During his recent visit to Yemen, Mr O'Brien said he met senior leaders of the Government and the Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa, and all promised access for aid.

"Yet all parties to the conflict are arbitrarily denying sustained humanitarian access and politicise aid," he said.

Mr O'Brien warned that if behaviour doesn't change now, those parties "must be held accountable for the inevitable famine, unnecessary deaths and associated amplification in suffering that will follow."

The UN humanitarian chief also visited South Sudan, the world's newest nation which has been ravaged by a three-year civil war, and said "the situation is worse than it has ever been".

"The famine in South Sudan is man-made," he said.

"Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine as are those not intervening to make the violence stop."

Mr O'Brien said more than 7.5 million people need aid, up by 1.4 million from last year, and about 3.4 million South Sudanese were displaced by fighting including almost 200,000 who have fled the country since January.

"More than 1 million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished across the country, including 270,000 children who face the imminent risk of death should they not be reached in time with assistance," he said.

"Meanwhile, the cholera outbreak that began in June 2016 has spread to more locations."

In Somalia, which Mr O'Brien also visited, more than half the population of 6.2 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 2.9 million who are at risk of famine and require immediate help "to save or sustain their lives".

He warned that close to 1 million children under the age of five will be "acutely malnourished" this year.

In north-east Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes.

A UN humanitarian coordinator said last month that malnutrition in the north-east is so pronounced that some adults are too weak to walk and some communities have lost all their toddlers. </s> THE world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945, the UN’s humanitarian chief has warned.

Stephen O’Brien told the UN Security Council that over 20 million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria are facing starvation and famine.

He said that “without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death” and “many more will suffer and die from disease”.

He urged an immediate injection of funds for the four countries plus safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid “to avert a catastrophe”.

“To be precise, we need $4.4bn (£3.6bn) by July,” said Mr O’Brien.

Without the money, he said, children will be stunted by severe malnutrition, gains in economic development will be reversed and “livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost”.

UN and food organisations define famine as when more than 30% of children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition and mortality rates are two or more deaths per 10,000 people every day, among other criteria.

Mr O’Brien said the largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen where two-thirds of the population – 18.8 million people – need aid and more than seven million people are hungry.

The Arab world’s poorest nation is engulfed in conflict and the UN says more than 48,000 people have fled fighting just in the past two months.

South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, has been ravaged by a three-year civil war and more then 7.5 million people are in need aid.

“The famine in South Sudan is man-made,” said Mr O’Brien. “Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine – as are those not intervening to make the violence stop.”

In Somalia more than half the population – 6.2 million people – need humanitarian assistance, including 2.9 million who are at risk of famine and require immediate help “to save or sustain their lives”.

“What I saw and heard during my visit to Somalia was distressing – women and children walk for weeks in search of food and water. They have lost their livestock, water sources have dried up and they have nothing left to survive on,” Mr O’Brien said.

In northeast Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has killed over 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes.

A UN humanitarian coordinator said that malnutrition in the northeast is so pronounced that some adults are too weak to walk and some communities have lost all their toddlers. news.sky.com </s> UNITED STATES: The United Nations is warning that the world is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II, with more than 20 million people facing starvation and famine in four countries.

The world body's humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien called Friday for an urgent mobilisation of funds - US$4.4 billion by July - for northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen to "avert a catastrophe."

"Otherwise, many people will predictably die from hunger, livelihoods will be lost and political gains that have been hardwon over the last few years will be reversed," O'Brien said in his stark warning to the UN Security Council.

"Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. Many more will suffer and die from disease. Children stunted and out of school. Livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost."

He called war-wracked Yemen "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world," with two thirds of the population, or 18.8 million people - three million more than in January - in need of assistance and more than seven million with no regular access to food.

The conflict in Yemen has left more than 7,400 people dead and 40,000 wounded since an Arab-state coalition intervened on the government's side against rebels in March 2015, according to UN figures.

In just the past two months alone, more than 48,000 people have fled fighting in the Arab world's poorest country, according to O'Brien, as it grapples with a proxy war fought by archrivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

During recent meetings, O'Brien said senior leaders in both parties agreed to provide continuous humanitarian access and respect international humanitarian law.

He noted that 4.9 million people received food assistance last month alone.

"Yet all parties to the conflict are arbitrarily denying sustained humanitarian access and politicise aid," he added.

"Already, the humanitarian suffering that we see in Yemen today is caused by the parties and proxies and if they don't change their behavior now, they must be held accountable for the inevitable famine, unnecessary deaths and associated amplification in suffering that will follow."

He noted that despite assurances from all parties that he would obtain safe passage to the flashpoint city of Taiz, he was in fact denied access and came under gunfire after retreating to a short distance away.

A total of US $2.1 billion is needed to reach 12 million people with life-saving assistance and protection in Yemen this year, according to O'Brien, who noted that just six per cent of those funds have been received so far.

He announced that a ministerial-level pledging event for Yemen will take place in Geneva on April 25, to be chaired by UN chief Antonio Guterres.

During his visit last week to South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, O'Brien said he found a situation that is "worse than it has ever been."

"The famine in South Sudan is man-made," he added.

"Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine, as are those not intervening to make the violence stop."

He said more than 7.5 million people need assistance, an increase of 1.4 million from last year. And some 3.4 million people are displaced, including nearly 200,000 who have fled South Sudan since January alone.

More than half the population of Somalia, 6.2 million people, need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 2.9 million at risk of famine.

Nearly one million children under the age of five will be "acutely malnourished" this year, according to the humanitarian chief, who also visited the country.

"What I saw and heard during my visit to Somalia was distressing - women and children walk for weeks in search of food and water," O'Brien said.

"They have lost their livestock, water sources have dried up and they have nothing left to survive on. With everything lost, women, boys, girls and men now move to urban centres."

In northeastern Nigeria, O'Brien said 10.7 million people need humanitarian aid, including 7.1 million people who are "severely food insecure."

The humanitarian emergency afflicting the area was triggered by the Boko Haram insurgency, which erupted in Nigeria in 2009. Poor governance and climate change have also been powerful contributors to the crisis.

The conflict, which has left around 20,000 people dead and forced more than 2.6 million others to flee their homes, has aggravated an already difficult humanitarian situation in one of the poorest regions of the world.
The World Food Programme cuts food aid to over 1.4 million displaced Iraqis by 50%, citing payment delays from donor states.