The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) may be forced to suspend humanitarian assistance to Somalia as early as April if funding is not secured, according to a press release on the organization's website.
"If our already reduced assistance ceases, the humanitarian and economic ... consequences will be devastating, and their impact will be felt far beyond Somalia's borders. WFP and its partners are ready to deliver, but we need urgent support to avert a preventable catastrophe," stated Ross Smith, Director of WFP's Emergency Preparedness Department.
To continue providing support to Somalis suffering from food shortages, WFP requires $95 million. This funding would sustain assistance from March through August of this year.
WFP is the largest provider of humanitarian aid in Somalia. Due to funding shortfalls, the organization has already reduced the number of Somalis receiving food assistance from 2.2 million to 600,000 people.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, 4.4 million residents of Somalia are in crisis or worse conditions, including nearly 1 million people experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Last year, WFP reported that it would be forced to reduce the number of citizens in Somalia receiving emergency food assistance in November due to lack of funding.
