As published from WFP USA’s 2024 Annual Report
Dear Friends,
As I reflect on the past year, I’m reminded of a simple yet powerful truth: Food is a universal human need. We depend on each other to grow, transport, store and cook the food we need to survive. I’ve also seen how sharing a meal with others satisfies much more than a nutritional requirement – it’s one of life’s greatest joys. This interconnectedness binds us across generations, countries, cultures and beliefs.
It pains me that in 2024, up to 343 million people experienced extreme hunger. Violent conflict, weather disasters and forced displacement pushed people to their absolute limits. Many of them didn’t survive. Most were forced to skip meals, sell off belongings to buy food, and make impossible decisions about which family members would or wouldn’t eat.
This is unconscionable on a planet that produces more than enough food to feed us all. We simply need the collective will to distribute it evenly. That’s why I’m here with a reminder: The choices we make in the United States matter. They shape the lives of people we may never meet in places we may never see, but they are connected to us through food in a myriad of very tangible and immediate ways.
At World Food Program USA, we believe it is our shared responsibility to ensure no one goes hungry and to help those who have nowhere else to turn. Our 2024 Annual Report highlights how the actions we took in the U.S. saved lives across 123 countries and territories through the work of the World Food Programme (WFP). The report illustrates how we helped send hot meals to people facing catastrophic hunger in Gaza. How we helped deliver emergency boxes of food to families displaced by violent conflict in Haiti. How we helped set up school meals for hundreds of thousands of students on the frontlines of war in Ukraine.
These examples are evidence that, together, we can end hunger. Let this reflection be a call for greater connection, deeper understanding and collective action.
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