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Cindy McCain announced on Thursday that she is resigning as executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) due to health issues. McCain, 71, stated that her health has not recovered enough to meet the "enormous demands" of the position, which oversees food aid for over 100 million people. She described her tenure at the humanitarian organization as the "honor of a lifetime.”
The widow of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., she made the decision experiencing in October what her office described as a mild stroke. She resumed her role after weeks of recuperation.
In a video posted to X, McCain addressed her agency's staff and said "my doctors and my family want me to come home," adding that she has not yet recovered.
"I’ve seen firsthand WFP’s ability to save lives in the most dangerous, destitute, and remote locations of the world, where people need us the most," McCain said in a statement. "Time and time again, I have seen the WFP team show up where no one else can, no matter the odds.”
McCain, who has led the organization since 2023, is expected to stay for a transition period. She said in her statement that she would still be the program's "biggest champion and continue to be an unwavering voice for those struggling with hunger everywhere."
During her tenure, McCain spoke out about hunger in Gaza, saying in a 2024 interview on "Meet the Press" that she believed there was a "full-blown famine."
"Whenever you have conflicts like this, and emotions rage high, and things happen in a war, famine happens," she said at the time.
McCain also raised awareness about attacks on humanitarian relief workers, and warned in 2024 that the war in Sudan "risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis.”
Lawmakers praised McCain's work in the hours after she announced she was stepping down.
Before helming the organization, McCain served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.
