Trump administration to modify some UN food agency awards: state dept

US President Donald Trump's administration wants the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to modify operations backed by the US in six countries, a state department spokesperson said on Wednesday, after Washington terminated and then reinstated the assistance.

Confirming Reuters reporting that the administration had restored US support for some of WFP's emergency operations, the state department spokesperson said Washington's work to review and reorient US foreign aid was still ongoing.

"While they have been reinstated, the state department and USAID intend to work with WFP to modify awards in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Ecuador, and Somalia to better align with Administration priorities," said the spokesperson.

It was not immediately clear what kind of a modification Washington was seeking.

In an X post on Wednesday, the WFP said it was "grateful to the US for continuing to prioritise lifesaving food assistance to those facing hunger on the frontlines of crisis".

WFP executive director Cindy McCain also posted on X on Wednesday: "As hunger reaches record levels, continued support from the US is vital."

Reuters reported on Monday that the US had ended $1.3bn (R25.27bn) worth of life-saving aid programmes for more than a dozen countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Syria.

WFP said on Monday that the US notified the organisation it was cutting emergency food assistance funding for 14 countries, warning "this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation."

A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that WFP's emergency operations in Afghanistan, Yemen, Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had been terminated.

In Afghanistan, food assistance for 2-million people and malnutrition programmes for 650,000 women and children would be cut, the official said, while in Yemen the US support would have provided food assistance for 2.4-million people in the south and malnutrition programmes for 100,000 women and children.

'Threshold of survival'

In Niger, the US funding would have provided malnutrition programmes for 50,000 women and children and in DRC the WFP will have to stop its emergency response in the country's east where millions are facing acute food insecurity, the official said.

The state department spokesperson said some terminated WFP programmes were contrary to an "America First" agenda and didn’t make America stronger, safer or more prosperous.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday: "We share WFP's concern about the impact of these cuts on some of the world's most vulnerable people, many of whom live on the threshold of survival."

The state department spokesperson said the WFP awards that Washington terminated including in Yemen and in Afghanistan were based "on credible and longstanding concerns" that the money was benefiting the Taliban and Iran-aligned Houthis, both of which the US has designated as terrorist groups.

The WFP has previously said it has strong mechanisms in place to monitor the distribution of its aid.

The US also terminated its support for the UN Humanitarian Air Service — run by the WFP — in Mali, Nigeria, Chad, Madagascar, DRC and Yemen, the UN official said, adding that the majority of that funding had already been spent.

"To date, USAID has terminated less than 15% of pre-existing WFP awards and the United States has nearly 130 active programmes with the WFP, who remains an important partner," the state department spokesperson said.

The cuts have been the latest piece of the Trump administration's drive to dismantle USAID, the main US humanitarian aid agency.

The administration has canceled billions of dollars in foreign aid since the Republican president began his second term on January 20 in an overhaul that aid workers said jeopardised the delivery of life-saving food and medical aid and threw global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos.

The spokesperson on Wednesday said all decisions made by secretary of state Marco Rubio "are in consultation with senior USAID and state department leadership and the White House".