WFP Reaffirms Support for Rohingyas, Vows Continued Food Aid

World Food Programme (WFP) Acting Executive Director Carl Skau has reiterated the agency’s strong commitment to continue providing food assistance to 1.3 million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh. He noted that the crisis remains a key focus area for the UN body headquartered in Rome.

Skau made these remarks during a meeting with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in Rome earlier today, according to a statement from the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing.

The discussion centred on the Rohingya situation, as well as famine and hunger crises in Gaza and Sudan, and the ongoing global struggle to secure funds for food aid impacting millions worldwide.

Praising Professor Yunus for his leadership over the past 15 months, Skau highlighted his continuous advocacy for international attention to the Rohingya issue. Both leaders stressed the urgent need for greater financial support to sustain relief operations for refugees living in camps across Bangladesh.

Skau commended the high-level UN meeting on September 30, which was held at Professor Yunus’s request, saying it effectively renewed global focus on the Rohingya crisis. “It was a vital discussion. We must ensure this issue stays visible on the global agenda,” he said.

They also explored possibilities of raising funds from new donors, including affluent nations and multilateral institutions.

Skau added that, with new commitments from the United States and the United Kingdom made during the New York UN meeting, the WFP will continue its monthly $12 food stipend for each Rohingya refugee.

Professor Yunus expressed gratitude to WFP for its leadership in fighting hunger and for its partnership in introducing a new school feeding programme in Bangladesh.

“Some Asian countries have achieved remarkable success in school meal initiatives. We hope to build on that model by improving quality and gradually expanding coverage,” Yunus said.

Their meeting also addressed the worsening global food insecurity. Skau mentioned WFP’s ongoing operations to send hundreds of food trucks into Gaza, noting that nearly 300 million people worldwide are now suffering from severe hunger.

Advisers Ali Imam Majumder, Farida Akhter, Lamiya Morshed, and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam also attended the meeting.