BUJUMBURA, Burundi, July 24, 2026/APO Group/ —
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that food assistance for more than 130,000 refugees in Burundi – most of them fleeing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – risks drawing down unless urgent funding is received.
Families who crossed the border in search of safety, food and shelter now face the prospect of losing the very assistance they depend on to survive. WFP urgently needs USD 35 million to sustain food and nutrition support for refugees through August 2027. Without new resources, lifesaving food distributions will end entirely from October 2026.
“Refugee families have already escaped from violence with little more than what they could carry. They came to Burundi looking for safety and something to eat, but now even that lifeline is at risk,” said Arduino Mangoni, WFP’s Acting Country Director in Burundi. “For people who cannot safely return home and have few ways to support themselves, WFP food assistance is not optional, it is what keeps families alive.”
Funding shortfalls have already forced WFP to reduce food rations, eroding refugees’ health and nutrition. If assistance stops, the impact would be immediate and severe. Families already living on reduced rations would face deeper hunger, worsening malnutrition and impossible choices between food, shelter, health care and protection. With no reliable income, limited opportunities to work and nowhere else to turn, many refugees could be pushed into negative coping strategies, while pressure on camps and surrounding host communities could rise.
As renewed violence flared in eastern DRC in late 2025, more than 100,000 people were forced to flee into neighbouring Burundi, adding to the existing refugee population in the country and more than doubling the number of refugees WFP supports. While some refugees have returned voluntarily to DRC, persistent conflict and regional instability continue to drive needs and could trigger further displacement if the situation deteriorates.
“We urgently appeal to donors and the international community to act now,” Mangoni said. “A break in food assistance would come at the worst possible moment for families who have already lost so much. Timely funding will allow WFP to keep food moving, protect the most vulnerable and help prevent a humanitarian emergency from deepening in a region already under strain.”
