The World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to halt malnutrition treatments for 650,000 women and children in Ethiopia due to severe funding shortages, the U.N. agency announced. The suspension, which took effect this week, puts millions more at risk of losing vital aid.
Zlatan Milisic, WFP’s Country Director in Ethiopia, stated that the agency’s funding has been significantly reduced by key donors, including the United States, which has imposed cuts in 2025. Despite receiving exemptions from former President Donald Trump’s global aid freeze, WFP’s funding remains critically low.
More than 10 million people in Ethiopia are facing acute food shortages, including 3 million displaced by conflict, extreme weather, and refugees from neighboring Sudan’s ongoing war. In response, WFP has already reduced rations, but with funding continuing to dwindle, the agency’s operations are now at a “breaking point.”
“We had no choice but to suspend treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children due to a lack of supplies and funding,” Milisic explained during a virtual briefing from Addis Ababa. The affected areas include the northern regions of Tigray and Afar.
WFP is urgently seeking additional funding to restock supplies and resume the critical treatments. Without more funding, an estimated 3.6 million people, including those receiving malnutrition treatment, could lose access to aid by June, Milisic warned.
Ethiopia’s food crisis has been exacerbated by the 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray and the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in decades in 2022. WFP has also raised concerns over the return of drought conditions this year, which could further deepen the humanitarian emergency.