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WFP increases food rations for Rohingya refugees

The World Food Programme has announced that it’s increasing – for the second time in 2024 – the food allocation for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps, but only by $1 a month.

In February 2023, WFP cut back its support in the sprawling complex, one of the largest globally, hosting over 800,000 Rohingya refugees who have escaped ethnic, political, and religious persecution in Myanmar. The ration cuts saw Rohingya refugees receive just $8 per month, down from $12, due to what the WFP described as a £125 million funding shortfall.

In January 2024, WFP increased the amount back up to $10 per month. It has now raised it to $11 and hopes to reach the full ration target of $12.50 per month by August this year.

The cuts have increased hunger and insecurity, driving more Rohingya, who have limited employment opportunities in the camps, to flee again, embarking on risky boat journeys.

But the Rohingya are not the only community affected by WFP aid cuts, which happened all over the globe. In 2023, the UN agency announced a 60% funding shortage, and by the end of December it had implemented significant reductions in its food and cash assistance in almost all the 86 countries it operates in. Read about the impact of the cuts in our 2023 article:

A stylised image of a WFP sack full of grain.

What WFP cuts mean for people in hunger crises around the world

From Afghanistan to Uganda, from Haiti to Syria, the UN’s food agency is reducing much of its support as the aid funding gap grows.

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