Funding cuts will push millions towards starvation, says UNWFP's Carl Skau

India should scale up funding to supplement the fund crunch, says Carl Skau

The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian agency awarded the Nobel Prize in 2020, is going through one of the worst funding crises in its history, with the US government slashing annual assistance by almost half since 2024.

 

In 2024, the US was WFP’s largest donor, contributing almost 46 per cent of the budget. The funding shortfalls have forced the agency to drastically cut staff and programmes, including closure of regional offices and disruption of services, affecting around 16.7 million people in 2025.

 

In an interview with Business Standard, Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director and Chief