UN warn of worsening hunger crisis in parts of the world
Because of the Ukraine war, the corona pandemic and climate change the United Nations outlook on the global food crisis has further deteriorated. “We are deeply concerned regarding the combined impact of overlapping crises that are threatening people’s ability to produce and access food,” Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu said in Rome on Monday.
20 so-called hunger hotspots are affected, where the situation might deteriorate between June and September this year. Millions of families who have been able to keep their heads above water are being crushed, said World Food Program director David Beasley. According to the report, the situation is particularly bad in Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen, where the highest hunger warning level applies. Since the last report in January, Afghanistan and Somalia have been added to this category. 750,000 people are threatened with starvation.
The UN sees bad forecasts for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Sudan and Syria. Another new hotspot country is Ukraine, which has been hit by the Russian war of aggression. The war in the Eastern European country has led to a further rise in food and energy prices, affecting the economies of all regions.
Also the Effects of the Corona Pandemic weighed on the economies and led to wage losses for the poorest. Climate phenomena like La Niña might intensify further in 2022 and drive more people into acute hunger. would be added unexpected droughts in East Africa and on the other hand floods that drive people from their homes in South Sudan, for example. The UN is now calling for preventive measures to be taken to prevent disasters. (dpa)
