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PBS News Hour - Segments

‘Food is not political,’ WFP head says as U.S. cuts aid and Israel blocks help to Gaza

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

41K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The World Food Programme says it has delivered the last of its food in Gaza and warned the kitchens it has been supporting would run out of food in days. Nick Schifrin spoke with Executive Director Cindy McCain who says a lack of funding has forced WFP to cut 30 percent of its staff as it faces unprecedented challenges in feeding the hungry in Haiti. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Transcript

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0:00.0

Today, the World Food Program announced it had delivered the last of its food in Gaza and warned the kitchens it's been supporting there would run out of food in days.

0:10.9

Nick Schifrin spoke earlier with Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program, about conditions in Gaza, a lack of funding that's forced her to cut 30% of the WFP staff worldwide and the unprecedented

0:23.2

challenges feeding the hungriest in another country that she's currently visiting, Haiti.

0:28.9

The World Food Program is the world's largest humanitarian organization.

0:33.1

And today it says some 340 million people face severe food insecurity because of conflict and stability

0:39.5

and climate change.

0:41.0

This week, WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain, is visiting Haiti, where some 5.7 million

0:46.1

people, more than half the country's population, faces high levels of acute food insecurity.

0:51.4

And earlier this week, the UN warned that gang violence had spread so much

0:54.7

without more international support. There will be more violence, and Haiti could, quote,

0:59.1

face total collapse. And Cindy McCain now joins me from Kapayshan in Haiti. Cindy McCain,

1:04.7

thanks very much. Welcome back to the News Hour. I just read all of those UN dire warnings

1:09.1

about Haiti. You've been traveling around.

1:11.6

You visited schools that provide locally grown meals. You visited factories that produce snack

1:16.3

kits for kids. How dire is the lack of food for so many?

1:22.3

It's a very, very serious problem, as you just stated. This, Haiti itself is a powder keg. And with the

1:30.3

lack of food and the lack of ability to obtain food for most of the population, this is a place

1:36.6

that could go at any moment. I'm very worried that the world has forgotten about Haiti.

1:42.5

We really, really, really need to pay attention here,

1:45.4

and we really, really need to coordinate countries to get together

1:49.0

and do action here to help Haiti get back on its feet.

1:54.1

The WFP has been negotiating with armed groups

...

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