The UN’s World Food Programme is scaling back funding to Palestinians in 2019 due to cuts in its budget.
By Joseph Wolkin, World Israel News
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) will drop from its programs 192,000 Palestinians who currently receive aid.
Starting in 2019, those who receive food aid will also receive 20 percent less, meaning people will now get $8 per month instead of $10.
“WFP has been forced, unfortunately, to make drastic cuts to the number of people that we support,” WFP country director Stephen Kearney said in an interview with Reuters.
WFP said the cut in Palestinian funding is due to the United States’ decision to stop funding United Nations programs that work in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. UNRWA, the main UN agency for Palestinians, wasn’t the only one that received budget cuts, WFP said.
Specifically, WFP lost 40 percent of its budget this year.
In Judea and Samaria, 27,000 people will lose their WFP benefit cards, with 165,000 in Gaza having the same issue.
The consequences of the cuts will likely lead to shop owners having fewer customers and employees, especially in the Gaza Strip. Currently, 185 local shops in the coastal enclave allow people to use electronic WFP cards.