New WFP Chief Lindberg Takes Office: Reducing Conflict Is the 'Number One Thing' to Cut Hunger Affecting 266 Million People
UN News reported on October 28 that Luke Lindberg, the new Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), was sworn in on October 27 and held his first press conference in the role at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. He said 266 million people worldwide now face acute food insecurity — the worst kinds of hunger — and that two thirds of them are directly attributable to conflict.
"Conflict is a man-made situation. It is something that we can solve for," Mr. Lindberg said. "The number one thing we can do to reduce hunger in the world is to reduce the amount of conflict that is happening all around the world." He warned that El Niño is about to put 49 million more people into acute food insecurity, while choke points in global supply chains are exacerbating the problem further.
Mr. Lindberg outlined three priorities: protecting humanitarian workers, strengthening donor partnerships, and improving operational efficiency. More than 700 humanitarians have been killed in the last few years while trying to save lives, he said: "Nobody should lose their life trying to save somebody else's." He said the United States remains WFP's largest funder and the private sector is now its fifth-largest donor, and that President Donald Trump had personally called him to ask him to be the US nominee for the post.
Mr. Lindberg previously served as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the US Department of Agriculture. He succeeds Cindy McCain, who led WFP from April 2023 to May 2026, and Carl Skau, who has served as Acting Executive Director since June. WFP teams currently operate in 83 countries.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：世界粮食计划署在马里巴马科的一处粮食分发点（资料图）。照片：CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A World Food Programme food distribution site in Bamako, Mali (file photo). CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
