Overview
- The State Department’s foreign assistance office said WFP distributions will restart as the broader U.S. assistance posture in Somalia remains under review.
- The Jan. 7 suspension followed allegations that Somali officials demolished a U.S.-funded WFP warehouse at Mogadishu Port and seized roughly 75–76 metric tons of donor food.
- The WFP said the warehouse held specialized nutrition for malnourished children and pregnant or breastfeeding women and later confirmed it had retrieved the removed commodities.
- Somalia initially denied wrongdoing, but a Foreign Ministry statement this week said commodities were returned and expressed regret, which U.S. officials cited as accountability even as Mogadishu offered no fresh confirmation on Wednesday.
- It was not immediately clear when deliveries would resume, and the U.S.—the WFP’s largest donor in 2025 at about $2 billion—reiterated a zero‑tolerance stance on waste, theft, or diversion.