On 28 December 2022, Switzerland pledged an additional CHF 14.5 million to the UN World Food Programme (WPF), announced the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
Around 350 million people worldwide are currently affected by acute hunger and dependent on food aid. In response to the worsening food crisis, President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis approved the additional funding bringing Switzerland’s 2022 contribution to the WFP to over CHF 100 million.
Of the additional money, CHF 13 million will go to the WFP’s emergency relief fund and a further CHF 1.5 million is earmarked for the Ukrainian government’s “Grain from Ukraine Initiative” for countries where people are facing acute hunger.
The 14.5 million announced this week is in addition to the approximately CHF 90 million the FDFA has already allocated to the WFP in 2022. This is an increase of over 25 million compared to the annual contributions made prior to the COVID–19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. “The number of people suffering from acute hunger who are in need of humanitarian assistance has more than doubled from 150 million to 350 million since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. We have risen to the situation with this substantial increase in our contribution over and above pre-crisis levels,” said Cassis.
The WFP is the largest humanitarian organisation fighting hunger and malnutrition around the world, and one of Switzerland’s main humanitarian aid partners. In 2021, the WFP provided assistance to over 128 million people in more than 120 countries.
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FDFA press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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