28 October 2026
“Conflict is a man-made
situation. It is something that we can solve,”
Mr. Lindberg told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York
in his first press
conference since taking office earlier this
week.
“The number one thing we can do to reduce
hunger in the world is to reduce the amount of conflict that
is happening all around the world.”
On top of that,
El Niño is set to push 49 million more people into acute
food insecurity, while chokepoints in global supply chains
are exacerbating the problem further, he
said.
‘Big
platitudes’
Mr. Lindberg said World Food
Programme (WFP) did not need “big
platitudes or big announcements” but execution, built on
three priorities: protecting staff, strengthening
donor partnerships and improving operations “a little bit
better each and every day”.
More than 700
humanitarians have been killed in the last few years while
trying to save lives, he said. “Nobody should lose their
life trying to save somebody else’s.”
He also
pledged to keep investing in preparedness ahead of
disasters, including through tools such as
artificial intelligence, and to “go big” on school
meals.
First trip to
Sudan
Mr. Lindberg said his first trip as
Executive Director would be to Sudan in a couple of weeks,
to thank frontline staff working in “the most challenging
places on Earth”.
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Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia are
the three operations where WFP is currently focusing, he
said. “In the short run, it’s no more
famines.”
Asked about Gaza, he said the
number of people going hungry there was unacceptable, adding
that while WFP has access to deliver food, it is cutting
back because of funding shortfalls.
He pledged to
stand up for WFP employees wherever they are located. “If
anywhere in the world there are people attacking
humanitarians, I will absolutely do what I can to protect
them,” he said.
‘All-of-the-above
approach’
On funding, Mr. Lindberg said
the United States remains WFP’s largest funder, while the
private sector is now its fifth-largest donor. “There is
no one nation, no one entity that can do this alone,” he
said.
Asked whether he saw himself as Washington’s
representative at the UN, Mr. Lindberg called it “an
unfair characterization”, saying his mandate from the
Secretary-General is to end hunger and that he would be a
“team player” across the UN system.
Mr. Lindberg
said US President Donald Trump had personally called him to
ask him to be the US nominee for the post, and that he had
“a great relationship” with many members of the Trump
administration.
People “all the way up
the chain to the president” within the US Government want
to support humanitarian work around the world, he
said, adding that WFP also needs to build deeper donor
partnerships with other countries.
Mr. Lindberg
succeeds Cindy McCain, who led WFP from April 2023 to May
2026, and Carl Skau, who has served as Acting Executive
Director since June.
The new WFP chief
previously served as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign
Agricultural Affairs with the US Department of
Agriculture.
