Subject: Underfinancing of the World Food Programme
The World Food Programme (WFP) feeds 90 million people on average. However, because the programme is underfunded, its emergency food aid to northern Mozambique was suspended in January 2023, a loss affecting the more than one million displaced victims of terrorism in the Cabo Delgado region.
WFP reserves began to grow increasingly scarce in April 2022, and the cut to support had an acute effect in that region.
In the light of the above:
1. Will the Commission go ahead with support action and measures to prevent hunger in Mozambique?
2. Given that depletion of funds in 2022 – as a result of which, between April and November 2022, only 40 % of the daily calorie needs of each WFP-supported person were met – and as the last food reserves were distributed in January, what proposals and measures does the Commission back?
Submitted: 10.2.2023
Answer given by Mr Lenarčič on behalf of the European Commission
(30 March 2023)
The Commission remains gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
In Cabo Delgado and neighbouring provinces, about 2 million people are in need of urgent life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance and protection, whilst around 1.5 million people suffer from acute food insecurity due to a combination of armed violence and climate shocks. In this context, humanitarian access and sustained assistance are crucial to address hunger in Mozambique.
The EU is implementing an integrated approach for the Cabo Delgado crisis encompassing humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and security actions in the short, medium and long term to address multi-dimensional needs of the populations affected by armed violence.
The EU humanitarian assistance in response to the Cabo Delgado crisis for 2021/2022 and 2023 has amounted to over EUR 68 million, out of which around EUR 27 million supported the food assistance sector.
The EU remains one of the World Food Programme’s main donors in the country, through a longstanding and valued partnership that contributes to fight hunger.
The food assistance sector will remain a priority for the EU in 2023, while it is equally important to provide access to basic services such as drinking water, basic sanitation and hygiene facilities, essential healthcare and education.
The EU will also continue to advocate for scaling up humanitarian assistance and enlarging the donor base, and for a greater engagement of development donors in providing more sustainable solutions.