Cindy McCain introduced Thursday that she is stepping down as head of the World Meals Programme, citing well being points and saluting the work as “the honour of a lifetime.”
“I had really hoped I may end out my time period, however my well being has not recovered to a degree that enables me to totally serve the large calls for of this job,” McCain, 71, mentioned in an announcement. “This is among the most tough choices I’ve ever needed to make.”
McCain has served as the chief director of the humanitarian group, which offers meals help to greater than 100 million folks all over the world.
The widow of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., she made the choice experiencing in October what her workplace described as a gentle stroke. She resumed her position after weeks of recuperation.
“I’ve seen firsthand WFP’s capacity to save lots of lives in probably the most harmful, destitute, and distant places of the world, the place folks want us probably the most,” McCain mentioned in an announcement. “Time and time once more, I’ve seen the WFP group present up the place nobody else can, irrespective of the percentages.”
McCain, who has lead the group since 2023, is anticipated to remain for a transition interval. She mentioned in her assertion that she would nonetheless be this system’s “largest champion and proceed to be an unwavering voice for these fighting starvation in all places.”
Throughout her tenure, McCain spoke out about starvation in Gaza, saying in a 2024 interview on “Meet the Press” that she believed there was a “full-blown famine.”
“Every time you may have conflicts like this, and feelings rage excessive, and issues occur in a conflict, famine occurs,” she mentioned on the time.
McCain additionally raised consciousness about assaults on humanitarian aid staff, and warned in 2024 that the conflict in Sudan “dangers triggering the world’s largest starvation disaster.”
Earlier than helming the group, McCain served because the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Companies for Meals and Agriculture.
Her husband, who had mind most cancers, died in 2018 at 81. The late senator was the Republican nominee for president in 2008, dropping the race to Barack Obama.
