The United Nations World Food Programme is to mount a new food assistance operation that aims to target 2 million vulnerable people in the poor townships in Myanmar’s main cities and other areas of the country where people have fled their homes.
Pre-existing poverty, COVID-19 and the political crisis triggered by the deadly military coup in February have caused hunger and desperation to rise sharply across Myanmar, Rome-based WFP said.
WFP said it urgently needs an extra 106 million dollars to help feed up to 3.4 million hungry people over the next six months, particularly in Myanmar's urban centres.
There are already signs of families in and around Yangon being pushed to the edge of survival, skipping meals, eating less nutritious food and getting into debt, just to survive, WFP reports.
“More and more poor people have lost their jobs and are unable to afford food,” said WFP Myanmar Country Director Stephen Anderson.
“A concerted response is required now to alleviate immediate suffering, and to prevent an alarming deterioration in food security.”
WFP’s aid campaign will target 10 of Yangon's poorest townships, many of which are home to large informal settlements. WFP is ready to get aid to other parts of Myanmar, which the agency is monitoring, including area where armed conflict has recently caused people to flee.
In Yangon and across the country, the average rice price has increased by 5% since January, and the average cooking oil price has increased by 18% since February, according to the latest WFP assessments. The price hikes are particularly steep in some border states including Rakhine, Kachin and Chin. In Kachin state, for example, rice prices have jumped 43% in some townships, and cooking oil prices 32%.
The price of fuel has increased by roughly 30% nationwide, according to WFP.
Despite the volatile situation, WFP has contined to provide humanitarian aid to people who have fled their homes and to other vulnerable populations affected by long-running conflict. In March, WFP assistance reached 374,000 people in conflict affected areas of southern Chin, Kachin, Rakhine and northern Shan states, the UN agency noted.
“To prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis unfolding in front of our eyes, we must step up. We count on the international community to continue standing with the people of Myanmar,” said Anderson.
