Rome, 14 February - This year, the IPC initiative celebrates its 20th anniversary since its inception, systematically providing information on the scale and severity of food insecurity and malnutrition where food and nutrition crises prevail. The IPC supports decisions in 30 countries globally including in the most complex contexts, such as Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza strip, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen among others.

Together with the Cadre Harmonisé (CH), the IPC is the global reference for consensus-based analysis of acute food insecurity and malnutrition, informing more than six billion dollars in food crisis response decisions annually. However, amidst the rising levels of hunger exacerbated by conflicts, weather extremes, and soaring food prices, the IPC faces a financial dilemma.

In January 2023, the IPC launched its new four-year Global Strategic Programme 2023 – 2026, with an estimated total cost of USD 48 million. At the same time, the IPC issued a call for resource partners to support the financial gap of USD 35 million to enable the initiative to fully achieve its objectives. Despite all efforts made to secure additional funding, a gap of USD 30 million remains.

With the available resources, thanks to the ongoing contributions from the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) of Canada, the European Union (EU), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the IPC will be able to maintain its current capacity until the end of 2024.

However, the current financial status will not permit the capacity enhancement required to pursue the target of geographic expansion, which foresees an increase of the current coverage of 30 countries by at least 30 percent by the end of 2026, and to undertake the necessary transformations and innovations required for a more efficient and agile IPC system.

In the absence of new financial contributions within the next six months, the IPC global partnership will not only fall short of meeting these growing demands, but it will also be forced to take deliberate decisions to significantly reduce the scope of its work, including country coverage.

Beyond the USD 30 million required to support IPC activities, sustained funding for data collection by stakeholders at the country level, as well as expertise from partner organizations to engage in the IPC process, is also needed.

“We are confronted with major food and nutrition crises which are becoming more unpredictable and are unfolding before our eyes. The international community’s capacity to urgently provide an appropriate response to these crises is entrenched in our ability to understand the severity and magnitude of the problem on the ground,” said José Lopez, the IPC Global Programme Manager.

Mr. Lopez said that the IPC and its 19 global partners have an essential role to play in providing such analyses when and where needed. In order to do so, the IPC needs the necessary resources not only to sustain but also to expand the country coverage, enhance country level capacities, ensure quality analyses, and continue developing the tools that will allow the IPC initiative to respond to the evolving information needs of decision makers.

While discussions with the DFATD of Canada, the EU and the FCDO of the United Kingdom are taking place for continued financial support, the IPC initiative calls for additional contributions from new resource partners.

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