New york: Millions of people in at least 12 crisis zones around the world, including Sudan and Gaza, face the menace of famine, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have warned in a joint report.

According to Qatar News Agency, the agencies issued urgent appeals for additional funding to address the shortfall amid shrinking global assistance, listing Haiti, Mali, South Sudan, and Yemen among the countries confronting the risk of imminent catastrophic hunger.

The report highlighted that the hunger situation in six other countries, namely Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria, is of very high concern. Against this backdrop, the two agencies affirmed that the funding shortfall for humanitarian aid severely weakens the capacity to manage emergency crises, leading to major reductions in food rations and diminishing the possibility for the most vulnerable groups to access nourishment, with refugee food assistance reaching a breaking point.

The WFP and FAO further noted that, as of the end of October, they had received only USD 10.5 billion of the USD 29 billion required to assist the most at-risk groups.

The agencies also emphasized that last year, the United States, the largest donor, reduced its foreign aid, while other major countries also cut their development and humanitarian assistance or announced plans to make reductions.