QNA
Doha
Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Rania Dagash Kamara has affirmed Qatar’s unwavering support and that it has been a key supporter of the WFP in light of the economic challenges and the funding gap facing development efforts in the least developed and most needy countries.
In an exclusive interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the sidelines of her participation in the 5th Observance of the UN International Day to Protect Education from Attack event, Kamara said, “In 2022 and 2023 Qatar contributed USD 10 million (5M /year), through the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), to WFP’s Immediate Response Account, which allows us to allocate resources in a flexible and timely manner to rapid onset emergencies, and other crises, a testament to Qatar’s unwavering support for our mission.”
Flexible funding is crucial because it allows WFP to be agile and prioritize critical needs, adapt swiftly to evolving crises, and allocate resources where they are most needed, she stated, adding Qatar’s multilateral contributions have enabled WFP to continue delivering life-saving food security and nutrition support more efficiently across the world, particularly in regions facing acute hunger.
Affirming that these contributions are essential given the global funding gap, which has left WFP facing an urgent need of close to USD 18 billion to reach its target beneficiaries in 2024, Kamara noted that Qatar’s support is particularly important for countries in the MENA region and least-developed countries, where economic challenges, conflicts, and climate shocks have exacerbated hunger.
While noting that WFP has a long-standing and impactful partnership with the State of Qatar that continues to grow, she said: “As global humanitarian needs continue to rise, WFP values the opportunity to engage further with the Qatari government and private sector partners, leveraging Qatar’s strategic role as key diplomatic broker in many humanitarian settings. In addition to humanitarian emergency response, strengthening this partnership can be achieved through enhanced collaboration in areas like climate-smart agriculture, logistics, and resilience-building initiatives.”
Regarding her visit to Qatar, the WFP Assistant Executive Director thanked HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation and Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, for inviting the WFP to participate in the 5th Observance of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, which highlights the urgent need to protect educational spaces in areas affected by conflict.
She continued by saying that the event, which is hosted by EAA, brings together key stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, NGOs, educational institutions and youth to advance discussions and forge new partnerships for change, adding that the event is directly relevant to WFP’s own work in school meals, a critical initiative that not only provides children with essential nutrition but also supports schools’ retention rate during times of crisis.
She added that school meals offer a protective space for children, particularly in conflict-affected areas, reduces risks including child labor, early marriage, and recruitment into armed groups, while also bolstering the well-being of entire communities. For instance, in South Sudan, WFP’s school meals program resulted in an 80% increase in school enrollment in conflict-affected regions, demonstrating its powerful impact in both education and child protection.
Kamara said that she held high-level meetings with government officials and private sector partners to enhance existing partnerships with Qatar and explore new potential collaborations to harness the unique expertise and influence of Qatar and WFP to address the needs of millions of vulnerable people around the world. With regards to the needs of the WFP to be able to reach and support the most vulnerable populations, Assistant Executive Director of the WFP Rania Dagash Kamara told QNA that in order to address all challenges, WFP requires several key resources and immediate action, to reach and support the most vulnerable populations effectively.
First, consistent and increased funding is essential. WFP requires USD 18 billion globally to meet its 2024 targets, with USD 7.2 billion needed in the MENA region alone. Additionally, maintaining food supply chains despite logistical hurdles caused by conflict and climate disruptions. Improved access is paramount.
In this context, the Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations WFP called on all parties to respect international humanitarian law, ensure the protection of humanitarian workers, and uphold their commitment to facilitating the delivery of vital and life-saving aid.
Pre-positioning of food supplies ahead of the rainy season is vital in many countries, but constraints on access have hindered this effort, leaving many communities at risk of starvation. Finally, enhancing local resilience through climate-smart agricultural programs and infrastructure improvements will help mitigate the long-term impacts of both conflict and climate change.
Commenting on the world hunger, Kamara said that the global hunger situation in 2024 remains at crisis levels, with 309 million people in 71 countries experiencing acute food insecurity.
This is driven by a combination of conflict, climate shocks, and economic crises. Among these, more than 37 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4), while 1.3 million people are on the brink of famine (IPC Phase 5), particularly in conflict-ravaged areas like Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, and Mali.
She continued by saying that the scale of the crisis is immense, with WFP facing significant operational challenges. For example, more than 27 million people across Southern Africa are food insecure as a devastating El Nino-induced drought sweeps across the region, decimating crops and livelihoods.
For millions, this marks the worst drought in a century. WFP is scaling-up to provide emergency food and nutrition support to 5.9 million people in the seven hardest hit countries until March 2025. However, massive funding shortfalls may jeopardise our ability to mount a response at scale. She added that Sudan represents one of the most severe challenges WFP faces today.
The ongoing war has left over 25.6 million people more than half the population experiencing acute hunger, and floods are further complicating WFPs efforts to deliver life-saving aid. WFP has convoys on the road carrying food supplies for those affected in Sudan, yet these convoys have been slowed or rerouted due to washed-away bridges, muddy roads, and flooded riverbeds.
Kamara pointed out that the conflict in Sudan has also triggered one of the largest displacement crises in the world, with over 10 million people forced from their homes and 2.3 million fleeing to neighboring countries like Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt. The crisis in Sudan highlights the broader challenges WFP faces globally, where conflicts, climate shocks, and funding shortages are pushing millions to the brink of famine.
In South Sudan, heavy rains have displaced thousands and delayed critical food deliveries, while water-borne diseases like cholera pose further threats to malnourished populations.
She remarked that despite these overwhelming needs, global humanitarian funding has dropped to pre-pandemic levels.
To meet all assessed needs, WFP requires $18 billion in 2024 to assist 139 million people globally, but funding shortages have already forced WFP to make difficult choices, cutting food rations, reducing the number of people reached, and prioritizing only the most vulnerable.
The gap between needs and available resources is widening, creating unprecedented challenges for WFP to maintain its life-saving operations.
In regard to the impact of escalating conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa region, and the challenges facing the WFP, Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations WFP Rania Dagash Kamara said that the MENA region is facing an unprecedented hunger crisis driven by a toxic combination of socio-political instability, economic downturns, climate shocks, and protracted refugee crises. By the end of 2023, 45.6 million people were food insecure across the region, with 11 million of them mostly displaced persons, refugees, and asylum seekers experiencing emergency or catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC 4 and 5) in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, she noted.
Kamara pointed out that climate change has further compounded these challenges, explaining that prolonged droughts, decreased rainfall, and extreme temperatures have reduced agricultural productivity in conflict-affected countries like Iraq and Syria, deepening food insecurity, while Yemen, already devastated by war, is also suffering from cyclones, floods, and droughts, which have disrupted farming and increased food insecurity.
WFP is doing everything possible to address these challenges, she said, adding that, in 2024, the program aims to reach over 33 million people across 15 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe (MENAEE) region, although the operations are facing a severe funding gap. In 2023, WFP’s funding for the region dropped by 43 percent, forcing drastic cuts to food assistance programmes, she added.
On the region’s biggest challenge, Assistant Executive Director of the WFP Rania Dagash Kamara said that the region’s biggest challenge is the gap between funding and soaring needs, indicating that the program requires $7.2 billion in 2024 -37 percent of its global requirements- to support the 33.4 million people in the MENAEE region.
However, funding shortfalls have forced WFP to prioritize only the most vulnerable, leaving millions at risk of hunger, she said, adding that WFP’s ability to provide food rations and cash assistance, the cornerstone of its operations, has been severely compromised, with further cuts on the horizon if funding does not increase.
