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Cindy McCain announced Thursday that she was stepping down as director of the World Food Program, citing health concerns and hailing her work as “the honor of her life.”
“I had truly hoped to be able to complete my term, but my health has not recovered to a level that allows me to fully meet the enormous demands of this job,” McCain, 71, said in a statement. “This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.”
McCain served as executive director of the humanitarian organization, which provides food assistance to more than 100 million people around the world.
The widow of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., she made the decision in October, suffering what her office described as a mild stroke. She returned to her role after weeks of recovery.
“I have seen first-hand WFP’s ability to save lives in the most dangerous, deprived and remote places around the world, where people need us most,” McCain said in a statement. “Time and time again, I have seen the WFP team show up where no one else could, no matter the odds.”
McCain, who has led the organization since 2023, is expected to stay on for a transition period. She said in her statement that she would remain “the program’s greatest champion and continue to be an unwavering voice for those fighting hunger everywhere.”
During his term, McCain spoke about hunger in Gaza, saying in a 2024 interview about “Meet the press” that she believed there was a “full-blown famine”.
“Whenever there are conflicts like this and emotions run high and things happen in war, famine happens,” she said at the time.
McCain too sensitized on attacks on aid workers, and warned in 2024 that the war in Sudan “risks triggering the world’s largest food crisis.”
Before leading the organization, McCain served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies.
Her husband, suffering from brain cancer, died in 2018 at 81 years old. The late senator was the Republican nominee for president in 2008, losing the race to Barack Obama.
