Janet Yellen thanks Poland for helping refugees and mentions her Polish Jewish roots

During her time in Poland, U.S. Secretary of State Janet Yellen visited the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

"Being here is personal to me. My father’s family immigrated to the United States from Sokołów Podlaski, just over 50 miles from where we stand now," Yellen said.

"Seeing the exhibits inside this museum gives a newfound appreciation for what generations of my family’s life was like there before coming to the United States," she added.

"The town to which I trace my roots has a tragic, yet familiar history. During the Holocaust, nearly the entire population, including much of family, was deported or murdered," she said, adding that "the Nazis destroyed the town’s historical landmarks and the Jewish cemetery was vandalised".

"Today, Sokołów Podlaski’s Jewish community is a fractions of what it once was, yet the region where my relatives lived was also home to resistance." Janet Yellen said.

"As the museum reminds us, the story of the Jews in Poland is not just one of tragedy – it is a story of bravery and perseverance. This is part of the legacy I’m here to honour," U.S. Treasury Secretary said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she will release a new report this week on steps that international financial institutions are taking to address growing food insecurity brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Yellen on Monday used a visit to a World Central Kitchen facility that feeds Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw to highlight the growing food crisis caused by a cutoff of grain exports from Ukraine and Russia.

"Clearly Russia's war against Ukraine has exacerbated across the entire world the problem of food insecurity," Yellen said. "The war's having an impact beyond Ukraine and it's something that we are very concerned about."

The report will be unveiled at the start of a meeting of finance leaders from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies in Bonn, Germany. It will highlight that institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development "are stepping up to provide surge support" to help countries increase food output, boost supplies and deal with higher prices.

Yellen convened the heads of the institutions in April during the IMF and World Bank spring meeting to come up with plans to boost support

She called for U.S. Senate passage of a $40 billion supplemental spending bill that includes funding for Ukraine and $5 billion to enhance food security.

World Bank-arranged support for Ukraine has now topped $1.95 billion out of a pledged $3 billion in bank financing and funds from donor countries, said Gallina Vincelette, the World Bank's country director for the EU and Europe and Central Asia regions.

The bank is advocating against a growing number of food export restrictions and price controls, which Vincelette said generally have the effect of making food more scarce. The bank also is focusing on projects to improve the productivity of food systems to reduce food losses and increase efficiencies, including better use of fertilizers and shifting away from chemical-based fertilizers, she said.

At the World Central Kitchen, Yellen met with several women working at the facility who are Ukrainian refugees. She pledged U.S. support for their country and asked what help they needed.

"Please stop the war," one of the women replied.