BEIRUT (AP) 鈥� A halted landmark grain deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to flow to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, along with donor's fatigue, is rattling the operations of the United Nations food agency, its deputy executive director said Tuesday.
鈥淲hat we have to do now is to look elsewhere (for grain) of course,鈥� Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program told The Associated Press. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know exactly where the market will land, but there might well be an increase in food prices."
The WFP on Tuesday started reducing monthly cash aid for citing budget cuts, a decision that upset both refugees and Jordanian officials. The agency has said it would gradually cut off 50,000 refugees in Jordan from its assistance altogether. The program had initially covered 465,000 refugees.
Syrian refugees in Jordan expressed frustration at the news, as they continue to struggle with finding work and high inflation rates.
鈥淭his decision ruined our lives,鈥� Khadija Mahmoud, a Syrian refugee from the Aleppo countryside in Amman and a mother of eight told the AP. 鈥淗ow are we going to pay for the apartment's rent, the electricity bill, the water bill, how? We don鈥檛 have the capacity.鈥�
The WFP it has only raised $5 billion so far this year, less than half of its objective of between $10 billion and $14 billion. It also said it has reduced its food and cash assistance worldwide in recent months due to what it calls an 鈥渦nprecedented funding crisis鈥�.
搁耻蝉蝉颈补鈥檚 , which helped secure Ukrainian wheat also impacted the WFP, which this year purchased 80% of its wheat supply from the war-torn country.
U.N. agencies and international humanitarian organizations for years have struggled to reach budgetary requirements due to the global economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war with Ukraine.
In the Middle East, budgetary constraints have impacted assistance for war-torn Syria and neighboring countries hosting millions of refugees while facing economic crises of their own, including Jordan and Lebanon.
In June, WFP announced major cuts in aid to Syria, now in its 13th year of civil war, cutting 2.5 million of the 5.5 million people who rely on the agency for their basic food needs.
鈥淔rankly, it鈥檚 difficult to see how they would manage because all our beneficiaries are in dire need of assistance,鈥� Skau said.
In March, then-WFP executive director David Beasley that ongoing funding cuts could cause mass migration, destabilized countries, and starvation in the next 12 to 18 months.
鈥淲hen the most vulnerable at critical levels of food insecurity don鈥檛 receive our food assistance, there are only two ways out,鈥� Skau said. 鈥淓ither they die or they move.鈥�
Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press
