The agency is pushing for a more targeted and responsive approach, prioritizing what matters most, sequencing interventions effectively and focusing efforts on the practical solutions that farmers are asking for, in line with Members’ priorities.
About 80 percent of people facing acute food insecurity live in rural areas and depend on agriculture, pastoralism, fishing or forestry.
However, only five percent of food sector humanitarian funding supports agricultural livelihoods, a persistent imbalance that traps families in a cycle of crisis and dependency, the agency said.
Emphasizing anticipatory action and rapid emergency agricultural assistance, FAO seeks to:
• $1.5 billion for life-saving emergency support for 60 million people, including seeds, tools, livestock health, livelihood recovery and cash assistance.
• $1 billion for resilience programs reaching 43 million people, focusing on agri-food solutions, water systems, markets, and climate-smart ecosystem restoration.
• $70 million for global services to strengthen data, early warning, anticipatory action and coordination across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus..
UN increases vital aid for 120,000 displaced people in Mozambique
The UN has increased life-saving assistance for 120,000 people displaced by escalating violence in Mozambique’s Nampula province.
Under the direction of Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, $6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has been allocated to support the response.
The violence that began in 2017 in Cabo Delgado has already displaced more than 1.3 million people. “The situation has worsened dramatically since mid-November as the conflict spreads,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Overcrowded and vulnerable
More than two-thirds of the 100,000 people who have fled in the last two weeks are taking refuge in overcrowded schools, makeshift structures, open spaces or with already vulnerable host families, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
People lack adequate housing and have limited access to clean water, medical care, protection and sanitation services, while a cholera outbreak continues to spread, Dujarric added.
CERF funding will prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene services for people in Erati and Memba districts, along with essential household items, shelter, protection and livelihood support.
Upcoming elections in Uganda marked by arrests and repression
At least 550 people, including members of Uganda’s main opposition party, have been arrested or detained ahead of January elections, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reported on Wednesday.
OHCHR said heavily armed security forces have been deployed in areas where National Unity Platform (NUP) protests are planned. Last week, officers reportedly used live ammunition in the eastern town of Iganga, killing at least one person and wounding at least three others.
“It is deeply regrettable that election campaigns have once again been marked by widespread arbitrary arrests and detentions and the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against the opposition, as well as undue restrictions on press freedom,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
The opposition remains isolated
Reports of enforced disappearances and torture of NUP supporters have increased over the past year, OHCHR has warned.
Security forces are accused of using camouflaged minibuses known as “drones” to take people to unofficial detention sites or “safe houses,” where they are allegedly held incommunicado.
Earlier this year, the army chief posted on X that he was holding the NUP leader’s bodyguard in his “basement”.
Following a public outcry, the bodyguard was presented in court, visibly shaking and showing other signs of physical abuse.
Mr. Türk urged the authorities to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment fully and impartially.
OHCHR added that at least 32 journalists and media workers were attacked or had their equipment confiscated by security personnel during a parliamentary by-election in March.