An American, Republican, replaces an American, Republican. At the end of his six-year term at the head of the World Food Program (WFP), David Beasley (former governor of South Carolina) handed over, Tuesday, April 4, to Cindy McCain, ambassador of the United States since 2021 with the “Roman agencies”, the three UN agencies dedicated to agriculture and food (WFP, FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD), and widow of the former Republican senator for Arizona, John McCain. Sitting on the boards of several philanthropic organizations, she is also the heiress of the Hensley Beverage Company, a beer and alcoholic beverage distribution company in Arizona.
Officially, the new WFP director was appointed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and FAO Director General Qu Dongyu. But the appointments at the head of this institution, which has been made by Americans since 1992, are in fact very influenced by the choices of the White House, the United States being by far the main financial contributors. Although a member of the Republican Party, Cindy McCain had called in 2020 to vote for Joe Biden in the election opposing him to Donald Trump. Noticeable support, which the Democratic president had recognized by appointing Mme McCain as a representative in Rome, then supporting her name to take over the leadership of the PAM.
Find the necessary funding
Cindy McCain’s task promises to be difficult: as food insecurity soars, and has exploded in the past three years under the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, climatic extremes and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, Funding needs are growing for the agency to provide assistance to vulnerable populations. Nearly 10% of the world’s population suffers from hunger and the WFP intervenes in the areas where the situations are the most acute, and very often conflictual: Yemen, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria, etc. 158 million people received assistance from the WFP in 2022, making it the largest humanitarian aid program in the world.
“Hunger is skyrocketing, resources are getting dangerously thin and ration cuts are on the way if we don’t have the money to get food to those who need it most”, said Cindy McCain, taking office. A few days earlier, his predecessor, David Beasley, under whose mandate the WFP received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, warned: the agency, which relies only on voluntary contributions from governments, companies or individuals, will have the greatest difficulty in obtaining the 23 billion dollars (21 billion euros) of financing necessary for the needs estimated this year.
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