The recent ceasefire in Gaza has provided a crucial opportunity for humanitarian efforts, significantly improving conditions for the aid organisations, said the chief of the UN’s World Food Programme.
The ceasefire in Gaza has re-opened the door for humanitarian agencies to operate more effectively in the region, the executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has told Euronews.
“We, along with everybody else, have been asking for it and begging for it for a long time,” Cindy McCain told Euronews in an interview during a visit to Brussels seeking to reinforce EU support for global food security efforts.
In her meetings with EU officials and ministers, she warned of the broader risks posed by food insecurity, including migration, conflict, and regional destabilisation.
“It’s very important that the EU not just step up—of course, we want them to—but also remain fully understanding of what’s actually going on,” she said.
Ceasefire brings relief to Gaza
Before the Gaza ceasefire, aid workers faced significant challenges, including restricted access to affected areas and threats to their safety, which led to widespread famine throughout the region.
“You’ve all seen on TV the damage that has been done prior to the cease-fire and you’ve seen the evidence of what’s happened,” she said.
Since the ceasefire, McCain noted: “We have not been harassed. We’ve not been shot at. We’re going in cleanly. We’re able to work efficiently and effectively. It’s what we needed to be doing all along.”
However, she acknowledged that a corollary of the ceasefire is Hamas’s control in the region, handling which she described as “very complicated”.
“Each day I wake up and say a little prayer to keep the ceasefire going. That’s most important, not just for our agency, but all of us that are in there,” she said.
Escalating crisis in the DRC
McCain also highlighted the deteriorating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have surrounded Goma, a major city in the country’s volatile east.
Foreign embassies have been attacked, and the UN suspended WFP operations due to security concerns earlier today.
“The most recent report I have is that the city is completely surrounded now, the M23 is coming in, and we are unable to evacuate our people because the airport is closed,” McCain said.
A WFP warehouse in the region was looted, she said, underscoring the growing sense of lawlessness in the region.
“This is very deadly. There’s nothing good going to come from this,” she warned, drawing on personal experience working in the region during the 1994 genocide.
Coca-Cola (and progress) in Syria
In Syria, where the WFP has maintained operations for the past twenty years even under the Bashar al-Assad regime, McCain noted some encouraging developments under the new government, including efforts to place women in leadership roles.
ADVERTISEMENTHowever, she cautioned that having recently visited Syria, these changes have yet to fully translate to the ground. “We want to make sure that women are treated equally and have equal rights, and that they can work without intimidation or harassment,” she said.
McCain observed improvements in food security, with increased imports from Europe, Turkey, and other regions.
“We saw the first day that Coca-Cola showed up on the street. That was kind of exciting, actually,” she said.
Still, she emphasised the need for the new government to meet the population’s growing demands and ensure lasting progress.
ADVERTISEMENT“But I’m hopeful because I think that this young administration just needs time to get its feet underneath them,” she said.
