WFP funding shortfall forcing cutbacks in Afghanistan

"The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) is being forced by a funding shortfall to cut its recovery programmes in nearly half of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, a spokesperson said," just as the country prepares for expected food shortages over the coming months, IRIN reports. The agency, which presently provides aid to 3.8 million people in the country, "requires $200 million to reach the seven million people it wishes to target," the news service notes.

WFP spokesperson Challiss McDonough told IRIN, "We are having to refocus our activities to continue supporting those who are most in need, especially in provinces that have the largest number of people who are either very highly food insecure or very food insecure. … We will also continue school feeding in the south because of the role it plays in getting children, especially girls, to enroll and attend school" (7/1).