The world is currently facing a global food crisis and malnutrition crisis that is affecting millions of people. In 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that more than 333 million people in 78 of the countries where it works were facing acute food insecurity, which is almost 200 million more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. This number is a 10% increase from 2022.
Here in Northern Iraq, the UN has cut off all assistance to the 900,000 refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in our midst. While we are shifting strategy to focus more on job creation, the widows, orphans and the elderly still need food assistance. A gift of $50 feeds a family for a month.
In Kenya where we have longstanding work among widows and orphans in remote Makonge, spring floods have destroyed crops and the hunger there is severe. A gift of $30 feeds a Kenyan widow and her children for a month.
We provide food baskets in Northern Iraq and Western Kenya as resources are available. This relief is life saving and greatly appreciated.