United News of Bangladesh

Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Carl Skau has reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to mobilising food assistance for 1.3 million Rohingya refugees sheltered in Bangladesh, stressing that the crisis remains one of the top priorities for the Rome-based UN agency. The acting WFP chief made the comments when he called on Bangladesh Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday at a hotel in the Italian capital. The meeting focused primarily on the ongoing Rohingya crisis, famine situations in Gaza and Sudan and the growing challenges in mobilizing funds to combat global hunger affecting tens of millions, said Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder. Skau praised Prof Yunus for his leadership over the past 15 months, particularly his unwavering efforts to bring international attention back to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis. Both leaders emphasised the urgent need for increased funding to support the Rohingya refugees residing in camps in Bangladesh. FAO DG assures support for Bangladesh’s deep-sea fishing, fruit exports Skau commended the September 30 high-level UN meeting on the Rohingya issue—convened at Professor Yunus’s request—stating that it had successfully “brought international attention back to the crisis.”

Deputy Executive Director (DED) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the World Food Programme (WFP) Carl Skau has said that they need to address the urgent situation facing the Rohingya but WFP’s funding will soon run out by the end of November.  “They (the Rohingya) have nowhere else to turn. They cannot work, they cannot integrate, and they certainly cannot return to Rakhine given the security situation there now – they are 100% dependent on the assistance we provide,” he told UNB in an interview during his recent visit to Bangladesh.  Rohingya crisis not a distant issue but ASEAN concern, says APHR “And we know from experience that when we withdraw or shrink our assistance, people are forced to turn to negative coping mechanisms,” Skau warned.  Money is Running Out He expressed their admiration for the generosity and the support the Bangladeshi people have shown, and the communities in Cox's Bazar who are really contributing to this response. “We always invest in the host communities. The food we provide for the Rohingya is procured in Bangladesh, including Cox's Bazar, making sure there is a return for the Bangladeshi economy as part of our response,” Skau said.  “But our money is running out. We don't have the budget to continue our operation beyond the end of November,” he added. That was one of the reasons he visited Bangladesh to meet with the government, partners, donors, and also with their teams on the ground, who he describes as “the lifeline”. “We are providing food for the entire population of the camp – on a monthly basis. And obviously, if we stop that, it would not only have a very negative impact on the humanitarian situation – people will be hungry and they would suffer – but also all kinds of other negative implications, including people having to leave the camps to try to find resources elsewhere,” Skau said. Diversifying Funding Base  

Without urgent new funding, monthly rations must be halved to US$6 per person, down from US$12.50 per person – just as refugees prepare to observe Eid, marking the end of Ramadan, said the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned of a critical funding shortfall for its emergency response operations in Bangladesh, jeopardising food assistance for over one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. All Rohingyas receive vouchers that are redeemed for their choice of food at designated retailers in the camps. To sustain full rations, WFP urgently requires US$15 million for April, and US$81 million until the end of 2025. "The Rohingya refugee crisis remains one of the world's largest and most protracted,” said Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director in Bangladesh. UN to reduce Rohingya food aid by over half from April “Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remain entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance for their survival. Any reduction in food assistance will push them deeper into hunger and force them to resort to desperate measures just to survive.” In recent months, new waves of Rohingya refugees, potentially exceeding 100,000 people, have crossed into Bangladesh, fleeing conflicts in neighbouring Myanmar. The continued influx of Rohingya seeking safety places an even greater strain on already overstretched resources. WFP has already begun communicating with the Rohingya community about the potential ration cuts. This coincides with the holy month of Ramadan – a sacred period for Muslims worldwide, including for the majority of the Rohingya – observed as a time for solidarity and support. “Now more than ever, the Rohingya need us to stand with them. These families have nowhere else to go, and WFP’s food aid is the difference between survival and despair. Immediate support is urgently needed to prevent this crisis from escalating further," added Scalpelli. In 2023, severe funding constraints forced WFP to reduce rations from US$12 to US$8 per person per month, leading to a sharp decline in food consumption and the worst levels of malnutrition among children since 2017 – reaching over 15 percent – above the emergency threshold. Rations were later increased when funding was received. Japan, Unicef sign $ 3.3mn deal to strengthen assistance for Rohingya children For a population with no legal status, no freedom of movement outside the camps, and no sustainable livelihood opportunities, further cuts will exacerbate protection and security risks. As in 2023, women and girls, in particular, may face heightened risks of exploitation, trafficking, prostitution, and domestic violence. Children may be pulled out of school and forced into child labour, while girls may be married off at a young age as families resort to desperate measures to survive. Refugee populations across the globe are often the first to face cuts to aid, despite being among the most vulnerable. As funding shortfalls grow and needs continue to rise, the Rohingya and many other communities are left with fewer resources to survive.

The deputy executive director of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) has been visiting hotspots across the Middle East and Sudan to evaluate worsening humanitarian crises and increasing demands for food among millions affected by conflict, reports AP. Carl Skau, in a recent interview with the Associated Press, revealed that funding shortages have compelled the agency to reduce the number of people it can assist. Despite efforts to diversify funding sources, including private sector contributions, Skau warned of a challenging future with growing needs and insufficient resources. Israel's Syrian buffer zone advance reveals both risks and opportunities ‘A triple crisis’ in Syria Syria is grappling with the aftermath of a 13-year civil war, an influx of people from the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, and the unexpected ousting of long-time leader Bashar Assad. Prior to these developments, 3 million Syrians were already acutely food insecure, though the WFP could only assist 2 million due to funding constraints. Now, the compounded crises are escalating humanitarian needs. While Aleppo remains relatively calm, the capital, Damascus, is marked by disruptions in markets, currency devaluation, rising food prices, and transport issues. This has necessitated immediate humanitarian efforts. Moving forward, the U.N. plans to focus on recovery and eventual reconstruction in Syria. Gaza’s descent toward famine Skau highlighted dire conditions in northern Gaza but expressed even greater concern for southern Gaza, particularly for approximately 1 million displaced individuals near Khan Younis as winter looms. In northern Gaza, where about 65,000 Palestinians remain without aid for over two months, Israeli military actions, lawlessness, and theft of food aid have hindered humanitarian access. Limited convoys have managed to reach Gaza City, accommodating around 300,000 people. In southern Gaza, where 1.2 million people received WFP aid through September, only 400,000 Palestinians were assisted in October and November. Restricted entry points, difficulties in transporting supplies, and a breakdown in civil order have severely limited aid delivery. International famine experts warned weeks ago that without change, famine was imminent in Gaza—a trajectory Skau believes is now unfolding. Over 50 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza Sudan’s overwhelming humanitarian crisis Sudan faces the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 25 million people acutely food insecure and famine officially declared in the Zam Zam displacement camp in western Darfur. Skau noted recent progress in securing clearances for aid delivery across conflict zones and from Chad. With the end of the rainy season, roads have become accessible, enabling greater food deliveries. A WFP convoy recently reached Zam Zam camp, but two others have been delayed due to recent fighting in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur and the last major city in Darfur under Sudanese military control. Sudan’s conflict began in April 2023, following tensions between military and paramilitary factions, leading to widespread violence in Khartoum and other regions, including Darfur. Paramilitary rampage kills over 120 in east-central Sudan: UN This month, WFP reached 2.6 million people in Sudan, but Skau stressed that the international community has not adequately addressed the crisis and must increase its efforts.

Bangladesh has signed an agreement with the World Food Programme (WFP) for expanding and improving school feeding programme for the country's primary school students. The agreement was inked in an event attended by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen. Bangladesh government introduced a school feeding programme in 2010 and now some 23 lakh students of 15,000 primary schools in 104 upazilas are getting free meals. Read: PM Hasina offers Nepal use of Payra port during meeting with Nepalese counterpart in Rome Under the new agreement, the school feeding programme will be expanded to more than 150 upazilas, raising the number of beneficiaries to 37 lakh students. Besides, fruits, milk, bread, eggs and other nutritious foods will be served instead of fortified biscuits. Thanks to the feeding programme, the dropout rate has declined by 7.5 percent and the enrolment rate has increased by 14 percent in the primary schools, said Momen. Read: Bangladesh-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Room opened at FAO Headquarters  Moreover, Bangladesh has become the 85th member of the School Meals Coalition at an event here on Monday. Bangladesh Ambassador to Italy Md Shameem Ahsan and PM’s speechwriter Md Nazrul Islam were present.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought assistance from the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) to boost the production of wheat and edible oil in Bangladesh  to reduce its export dependency for the two items. The assistance was sought when IFAD President Alvaro Lario met her at the FAO headquarters,  Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters after the meeting on Monday (July 24, 2023). Read: Bangladesh signs agreement with WFP to expand school feeding programme Hasina also asked the IFAD to help Bangladeshi small agro-enterprises in marketing their goods and help the country build an efficient food storage system. Also on Monday the prime minister asked the World Food Programme (WFP) to raise funds for Bangladesh particularly displaced Rohingyas who took shelter in Bangladesh as per capita fund for Rohingya declined to US$ 8 from US$ 12. She made the call when WFP Executive Director Cindy Hensley McCain met her at the FAO Headquarters on Monday. Hasina said Bangladesh has successfully raised food production thanks to her government's taking various steps in this field. Read: PM Hasina offers Nepal use of Payra port during meeting with Nepalese counterpart in Rome Bangladesh is in a good position in producing not only crops but also fish and other foods, she said. Cindy Hensley McCain is the wife of former US presidential candidate John McCain who adopted a three-month Bangladeshi girl in the early 1990s.  Meanwhile, the prime minister along with other heads of government and states attended a reception hosted by Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization Qu Dongyu at the FAO headquarters.

The U.N. delivered grim news on global food security Wednesday: 2.4 billion people didn’t have constant access to food last year, as many as 783 million faced hunger, and 148 million children suffered from stunted growth. Five U.N. agencies said in the 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition report that while global hunger numbers stalled between 2021 and 2022 many places are facing deepening food crises. They pointed to Western Asia, the Caribbean and Africa, where 20% of the continent’s population is experiencing hunger, more than twice the global average. “Recovery from the global pandemic has been uneven, and the war in Ukraine has affected the nutritious food and healthy diets,” Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement. “This is the `new normal’ where climate change, conflict, and economic instability are pushing those on the margins even further from safety.” FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said the FAO food price index has been declining for about 15 months, but “food inflation has continued.” But he said not knowing if the deal that has enabled Ukraine to ship 32 metric tons of grain to world markets and is trying to overcome obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer shipments will be renewed when it expires on July 17 “is not good for the markets.” UN warns its development goals for 2030 are in trouble and 575 million people will remain very poor If it isn’t renewed immediately “you will have a new spike for sure” in food prices, but how much and for how long will depend on how markets respond, he said. According to the report, people’s access to healthy diets has deteriorated across the world. More than 3.1 billion people – 42% of the global population – were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021, an increase of 134 million people compared to 2019, it said. Torero told a news conference launching the report that reducing the number of people eating unhealthy diets “is a big challenge, because it’s basically telling us that we have substantially to change the way we use our resources in the agricultural sector, in the agri-food system.” According to the latest research, he said, between 691 million and 783 million people were chronically undernourished in 2022, an average of 735 million which is 122 million more people than in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Eliminate legal barriers to women owning land: UN chief Torero said U.N. projections for 2030 indicate that 600 million people will still be suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2030, far from the U.N. development goal of achieving “Zero Hunger” by that date. In the report’s foreword, the heads of FAO, the World Food Program, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization wrote that achieving Zero Hunger “poses a daunting challenge.” They called for redoubled efforts “to transform agri-food systems and leverage them” to reach the target. As for children, the report says they are continuing to suffer from malnutrition, with not only 148 million younger than 5 stunted but 45 million too thin for their height or “wasted,” while 37 million youngsters were overweight. Torero said the five agencies also looked at increased urbanization and found that people in rural and semi-urban areas are also consuming mass market products. “Normally, we used to believe that rural people will consume what they produce, but that’s not the case,” he said, explaining that in rural areas about 30% of the family’s food basket is purchased from the market, and in semi-urban and urban areas it is higher, which has implications for nutrition because of the consumption of more processed foods. WFP chief economist Arif Husain told reporters in a virtual briefing that in 2022 when the war in Ukraine was ongoing the food situation didn’t get worse because the donor community stepped up with about $14.2 billion, and the agency was able to provide aid to 160 million people, up from 97 million in 2019. Stop targeting truth, truth-tellers: UN Chief on World Press Freedom Day “My concern is that moving forward we are looking at huge funding cuts,” he said, citing WFP donations of just $4.2 billion by last week, 29% lower than at the same time last year.

The Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), a group based in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, has expressed deep concerns about the recent announcement that the World Food Programme (WFP) will have to reduce its general food assistance voucher value from USD 12 to USD 10 per person per month, due to a USD 125 million funding shortfall. “As refugees living in the camp, we know first-hand how difficult it is to survive on even $12 per month, and this reduction is likely to have a devastating impact on the already dire situation of our community. It is hard to fathom how we are going to survive on $10 per month when even with $12 per month, people are struggling to make ends meet,” reads a press release signed by Abdur Rahim, vice-chairman of ARSPH. Also Read: UN experts for immediate funding to avert food ration cuts for Rohingyas The reduction of food assistance is likely to lead to a host of new challenges, including extortion, prostitution, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and radicalization, noted the release, adding, “The desperation of our people will create an environment in which these activities thrive, leaving the most vulnerable members of our community at great risk.” The group pleaded the international community to take urgent action to ensure that the ration sizes do not get cut. “It is unacceptable that we, as refugees, are being forced to bear the burden of a funding shortfall that is not of our making. The international community must take responsibility for ensuring that we receive the assistance we need to survive,” it said. Read More: South Korea reaffirms its support for ultimate resolution of Rohingya crisis On behalf of the Rohingya community, they urged the World Food Programme and other humanitarian organizations to find alternative sources of funding to make up for the shortfall. “We call on donor countries to increase their contributions to the Rohingya crisis. Our lives depend on it, and we implore the international community not to turn a blind eye to our plight,” it added. 

Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network which, co-convened by Switzerland-based international organisation Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) have launched an innovation challenge for young entrepreneurs to ensure the supply and consumption of nutritious and safe food for lower-income groups. Food Frontiers 2.0 wants to find creative business concepts, inexpensive and scalable technical solutions, and campaign ideas to identify new and innovative ways to reach lower-income consumers with nutritious food products. The application window for the innovation challenge already opened and will close on January 15. Read More: More awareness needed to ensure safe food: Minister A shortlist will be made after scrutinising the submissions received in the first round of selection. Representatives from the selected businesses or ideas will attend a three-day residential boot camp session in the capital as part of investment readiness training and business expansion. Seven winners (two each from three categories), including one reserved prize for the International Nutrition Olympiad, will get cash and pre-seed funding for implementing a business plan, expansion of the business, and infrastructure development.   Read More: Safe food to be ensured for all amid pressure over subsidy Food Frontiers 2.0 wants to build the capacity of young entrepreneurs on sustainable food system approaches and business skills for managing a social enterprise. Also, it aims to co-design business models that are geared towards improving the nutrition outcome of the food system, particularly for the most vulnerable; building a pipeline of potential investments for disruptive innovative ideas for the food system of Bangladesh.   The National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Agricultural University are the strategic partners of this event. Read more: 'Digital agriculture can give Bangladesh's food, nutrition security a boost'

The government of Japan and WFP on Monday signed an exchange of notes to provide food and nutrition assistance to the Rohingyas in Bhasan Char and to develop agricultural infrastructure in Cox’s Bazar.The contribution of USD 4.3 million will be used for critical food assistance through the e-voucher system for the Rohingya refugees living in Bhasan Char and will help further the development of agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation system, canal excavation, and new roads for the Bangladeshi community in Cox’s Bazar.“Japan is an essential partner for WFP, and we are grateful for their staunch support of development in Bangladesh and of our humanitarian efforts in the country,” said Dom Scalpelli, the resident Representative and Country Director of WFP Bangladesh.Scalpelli said this new contribution will help them continue to provide life-saving food assistance on the island of Bhasan Char and will greatly benefit the Bangladeshi community in Cox’s Bazar.Following the emergency grant of USD 2 million in January. Japan decided to provide additional assistance to Bhasan Char, with the "strong hope" that this contribution will respond to the urgent food and nutrition needs of the Rohingya population on Bhasan Char, as well as to enhance the agricultural environment in Cox’s Bazar."During my recent visit to Cox’s Bazar, I saw the dedicated and professional work of WFP and its partners. Food assistance by E-Voucher in the Cox’s Bazar camps is truly innovative, and it is our great pleasure that the innovative approach will be expanded to Bhasan Char with this funding," said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki. Read: US announces over $170 million in humanitarian assistance for RohingyasAs the Rohingya crisis has stepped into the sixth year, it is imperative to continue funding for better and dignified lives of refugees, while making every effort for the early repatriation to Myanmar, he said."Durable solutions of this crisis will be conducive to realizing the vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, Japan will stand by the government and the people of Bangladesh in supporting the Rohingya response," said Naoki.Since the beginning of the emergency in August 2017, Japan has been a steadfast supporter of the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh, contributing over USD $170 million to UNHCR and other UN agencies and NGOs in Bangladesh, including through this new funding.