The Philippines’ flagship school meals and food voucher programs will continue to receive unhampered funding from the World Food Program (WFP), its Asia-Pacific chief said against the backdrop of a changing global funding landscape.
WFP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Samir Wanmali conveyed this during a meeting with Philippine Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representative to the WFP Neal Imperial on the sidelines of the 1st Regular Session of the WFP Executive Board in Rome.
Wanmali told the envoy the impact of the United States’ funding cutbacks on its program in the Philippines would be “minimal.”
He assured that the Philippines remains a top priority of the WFP in the Asia-Pacific region and that its support would extend to the country’s emergency preparedness and response initiatives.
Imperial, for his part, reaffirmed the strong partnership between the Philippines and the WFP towards addressing child malnutrition and rural poverty.
The Trump administration in January imposed a 90-day freeze on all its foreign development assistance, except for some programs in Egypt and Israel.
On Monday, the Philippine government confirmed that the US has also recently exempted some of its aid to the Philippines but only on “a portion” of its foreign military financing.
The WFP operates in the Philippines under the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2024-2028 approved in 2024.
The CSP supports the Philippine government in achieving food and nutrition security, focusing on improving emergency preparedness and response, strengthening resilience against climate change and other shocks, and enhancing the delivery of social protection in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).
Its donors include Japan, the US, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, the Asian Development Bank, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, Canada, France, the Emerging Donor Matching Fund, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and private donors.
The Philippines, one of the member states of the WFP, sits as Observer at the Executive Board, the WFP’s supreme governing body that provides intergovernmental support and policy direction.
The Philippines served on the Board in 2007-2009, 2010-2012, and 2013-2015.