Conflict and Famine

In Memoriam: The US Famine Early Warning System, Known as FEWS, as well as SERVIR
The program which many experts considered to be the most effective at stopping famines and starvation and arguably the single most valuable aid program of all time, has ended its 40 year run of success, as the White House shut it down, alongside hundreds of other global initiatives, without review, ...

USAID Adds Value in Disaster Response, Says Former Hunger Notes Chair
Opinion piece from the former WHES Board Chair: Most people do not realize what a huge mistake it would be to eliminate the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as appears to be underway here in February 2025. It would be like throwing the prove...

Film Mischaracterizes Humanitarian Aid Work
[Editor's note: The following opinion piece was written by career aid worker Amy Leah Potter in response to the recent release of the film "Dirty Angels" which has upset many people in the aid community for its depiction of humanitarian NGOs serving as shells to hide army combatants. The mov...

Resource Highlight: Examining the Decline in Starvation Deaths
How Many People Die of Starvation in Humanitarian Emergencies?, from the Refugee Policy Group think tank, examines the history of starvation in emergencies, includi...

WHES Undertakes Research about Attacks Against Food & Nutrition in Humanitarian Aid
This month, toward the end of 2024, World Hunger Education Service launched a broad study about the patterns, trends and extent of violent attacks and threats against aid programs delivering food and nutrition solutions in famines, crises, war zones, and for displaced populations. The results ...

As Russia quits Black Sea Grain Deal, Food Prices Rise
Russia has indicated that the decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Deal, which allows Ukraine to export grain from ports on the Black Sea, is final. Russia has said that any ship traveling to or from Ukraine ports will be considered an enemy vessel....

WORLD FOOD PROGRAM speaks on Feeding those in need
In this video interview by PBS.org, David Beasley, former Governor of South Carolina, and the outgoing Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP) speaks about his o...
Black Sea Grain Initiative, to Expire 18 March 2023, in Peril
The Black Sea Initiative, the U.N. brokered agreement to export Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea ports is due to expire on Saturday the 18th of March, 2023. As of 14 March, there was a proposal by the Russians, to shorten the extension from 120 days to 60 days. The Ukrainians counter that thi...

“Love and Liberation” Captures Voices of Local Aid Workers in Famine Zone
Lauren Carruth's important 2021 book, Love and Liberation - Humanitarian Work in Ethiopia's Somali Region (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press) fills a gap in the literature about aid programs by listening to the perspectives of those personnel delivering aid o...

US Ambassador to the UN warns of famine in Somalia
Linda Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, gave a speech on January 29th in Mogadishu announcing $41 million for famine prevention in Somalia and urged other nations to join in assisting Somalia fight famine....