United Nations (UN) central emergency response fund contributes to United Nations World Food Programme (WFP’s) assistance to families affected by El Niño in Angola

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a generous contribution of US$ 1.65 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The funding, part of a US$ 3 million allocation from CERF, will allow WFP to scale-up its humanitarian response to communities affected by the El Niño-fuelled drought in southern Angola.

The contribution will support WFP in providing life-saving food assistance and nutrition support to children with acute malnutrition and the most vulnerable families affected by the most severe drought in 40 years in Huíla and Cunene provinces. Through WFP’s community-based management of acute malnutrition programme, 63,000 children under the age of five will be screened, of which approximately 7,600 are expected to receive nutrition assistance under the targeted supplementary feeding programme. Additionally, WFP will provide food vouchers to around 5,000 food-insecure households over a period of two months.

“Millions of people in the southern region of the country are grappling with the impact of the El Niño-induced drought,” said José Ferrão, WFP Representative in Angola. “This crucial contribution from the Central Emergency Response Fund will assist WFP in addressing the far-reaching impacts of El Niño on food and nutrition security. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to CERF’s donors for their generosity, which will bring profound hope to affected communities and help build their resilience against future climate shocks.”

According to WFP’s hotspot analysis, in 2024, an estimated2.8 million people will be food insecure across southern Angola. The provinces of Huíla and Cunene have been heavily affected by prolonged drought conditions, which are compounded by El Niño’s adverse impact, resulting in failed crops, livestock losses, water shortages, inflation and increasing staple food prices. Many families now struggle to meet their basic food needs, with women and children leaving their homes in search of food and water putting their health, safety and education at risk.

“To complement the Government’s efforts, the United Nations (UN) mobilized resources through the Central Emergency Response Fund, a global humanitarian mechanism managed by the UN designed to provide rapid and effective financing for emergency response,” said Zahira Virani, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Angola. “The funding of US$ 3 million will help specialized agencies, WFP and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to mitigate the consequences of the drought caused by El Niño. This allocation of funds will aim to catalyze a comprehensive, three-tier response strategy, ranging from immediate life-saving measures to anticipatory and long-term sustainment actions.”, she added.

Since 2021, WFP has been supporting the Government-led drought response by providing nutrition support and food vouchers to the families of malnourished children and other vulnerable groups and training health facility staff and community health workers to conduct nutrition screenings and deliver programmes to address moderate acute malnutrition. WFP also reaches primary school-aged children and their families with nutrition-sensitive school meals and take-home rations.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP).