U.N. Food Aid Chief Fears U.S. Budget Cuts Could Leave Children Hungry

"ROME - The outgoing head of the United Nation's food aid agency voiced concern on Monday that the Trump administration's proposed cuts for U.N. aid agencies would leave children hungry in crisis-hit areas.

World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said she hoped Congress - which controls the government purse strings - would rebuff the cuts and maintain the United State's long-standing role as the agency's largest contributor.

The United States was the top contributor to the WFP in 2016 with $2 billion, a third of the agency's budget.

"I do not believe that the people of the United States support allowing babies to go hungry," Cousin, who ends her five years at the helm of the WFP on Tuesday, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview."

Umberto Bacchi reports for the Thomson Reuters Foundation April 3, 2017.

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"US Withdraws Funding for United Nations Population Fund" (BBC News)