Jun 15, 2009 WFP assisted Maria Ereña and her family when they were displaced by severe flooding in Bolivia.
Emergency Operations deal with many different crisis situations which fit into three general categories: sudden disasters, slow onset disasters, and complex emergencies. Sudden disasters refers to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, or tsunamis. Slow onset disasters includes crises such as drought and crop failure. Complex emergencies are those that arise from conflict, and social and economic disruption. Click here for more information.

In the last 20 years, the global number of natural disasters, wars and civil conflicts per year has doubled, demanding a significant portion of WFP's funding and resources. Friends of WFP gives donors the option of designating their gift to the general Disaster Relief program area, and also creates special program areas when disasters strike. Program areas have been created for emergencies such as the 2004 tsunami, the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, Cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar/Burma, and the Haiti food crisis.