UN agencies: shortages in food assistance affect 2 million refugees across Africa

The United Nations said Monday that shortages in food assistance are affecting some 2 million refugees in 10 countries across Africa.

Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the daily news briefing that the Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP), Ertharin Cousin, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, "are very concerned that critical shortages in food assistance are affecting some 2 million refugees" in Africa.

"The number of refugees in Africa nearly doubled from 2.6 million in 2011 to nearly 5 million in 2016," he said.

"While donor funding for refugee assistance increased during this period, it did not keep pace with rapidly rising needs," said Haq, adding that the humanitarian response "is significantly underfunded" and this "has forced cuts in food assistance for some groups of refugees."

Ten refugee operations in Africa have experienced cuts and food rations have been dramatically cut - in some cases by up to 50 percent - in large operations including Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Mauritania, South Sudan and Uganda, he said. Endit