AP Interview: WFP chief says 600,000 kids risk famine death

Beyond the moral imperative, Beasley said it’s a U.S. security interest not to slash funding for the WFP and other U.N. agencies, including those helping children and refugees. Such aid helps stop migration and contributes to the fight against terrorism, he said.

“If you want to spend another half a trillion dollars on military operations, don’t fund the WFP,” he said. “Because if a mother or father can’t feed their child after a few weeks, they’ll turn to terrorist groups and other operations.”

Beasley’s views seem to run counter to President Donald Trump’s “America First” message. Trump has called for drastic cuts to U.S. funding for the U.N. and its agencies. He plans to release his budget blueprint on Tuesday, but an initial proposal in March called for a one-third cut to diplomatic and overseas programming while boosting the U.S. military by $54 billion.

The threatened cuts are a key point of contention between the U.S. and the Europe, Trump’s next stop this week after a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank.

Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, said over the weekend that such cuts “would create a major security issue worldwide, including in Europe.”

The link between aid and migration has been highlighted by the fallout from Syria’s 6-year-old civil war which has uprooted millions, including more than 5 million who fled their homeland. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have migrated from the region to Europe, in part because underfunded U.N. aid agencies had to cut back food and other support to refugees in overburdened asylum countries neighbouring Syria.

Beasley said that while Trump is pushing for U.N. reforms, he believes the president will eventually support U.N. agencies that “really get the job done.”

“It is my responsibility to make certain that he (Trump) sees that, and we have all the plans of doing that,” he added.

Before taking the job, Beasley met with key decision-makers in the U.S. Congress who he said told him they are committed to supporting current funding levels and “hopefully more” in the coming year. He said the fight against hunger has bipartisan support, noting the lawmakers recently appropriated an additional $990 million for famine relief.

Like Trump, Beasley believes some nations need to contribute more to aid efforts. He said this includes Gulf nations, such as the oil-rich Saudi Arabia, engaged in a civil war in neighbouring Yemen, one of the countries facing famine as a result of that conflict. Beasley said his message to the Saudis and others engaged in conflict is that “if you are not going to step up the humanitarian aid, then stop the war.”

Beasley spoke to the AP on Sunday evening in Amman, the Jordanian capital, after visiting the kingdom’s largest camp for Syrian refugees and a military airport from where WFP food shipments are flown to Syria.

At the airport, he crossed paths with Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and also a former South Carolina governor. Haley, an advocate of U.N. reform who recommended Beasley for the WFP job, on Sunday pledged more U.S. aid for Syrian refugees.

Beasley said he and Haley are friends and that “she clearly understands the value and the importance of the WFP.”

“As I have said to some of my friends on the Hill that want reform, I’ve said, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, because the WFP is getting it done,” he said.

Karin Laub, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

AP Interview: WFP chief says 600,000 kids risk famine death

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