
Conflict-driven hunger is getting worse, according to a snapshot of the eight places in the world with the highest number of people in need of emergency food support, and the link between them is “all too persistent and deadly” according to a new report delivered to the UN Security Council.
The new report released [1]by the Food and Agriculture Organization [2] (FAO [2]) and the World Food Programme [3] (WFP [4]) follows on from a landmark Council resolution on preventing hunger in conflict zones, adopted in May.
The situation in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Yemen worsened in the latter part of 2018 largely because of conflict, although Somalia, Syria and the Lake Chad Basin, saw some improvements in line with improved security. In total, around 56 million people are in need of urgent food and livelihood assistance across the eight theatres of war.
"This report clearly demonstrates the impact of armed violence on the lives and livelihoods of millions of men, women, boys and girls caught up in conflict," wrote FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva states in the report’s foreword.
"I would strongly encourage you to keep in mind that behind these seemingly dry statistics are real people experiencing rates of hunger that are simply unacceptable in the 21st century," he continued.
Violence against humanitarian workers is also on the rise, sometimes forcing organizations to suspend their life-saving operations, leaving those at risk, even more vulnerable. Every single country covered in the report, saw attacks carried out on aid workers and facilities last year.
"This report shows again the tragic link between conflict and hunger and how it still pervades far too much of the world. We need better and quicker access in all conflict zones, so we can get to more of the civilians who need our help. But what the world needs most of all is an end to the wars," wrote WFP chief David Beasley in the foreword.
The Security Council's Resolution 2417 [5] condemns unequivocally, starvation as a tool of war. It calls on all parties to armed conflict to comply with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to minimize the impact of military actions on civilians, including on food production and distribution, and to allow humanitarian access in a safe and timely manner to civilians needing lifesaving food, nutritional and medical assistance.
"The millions of men, women and children going hungry as a result of armed conflict will not be reduced unless and until these fundamental principles are followed", states the joint UN agency report.
Original source/Image credit: UN News [6]
Links
[1] http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CA3113EN
[2] http://www.fao.org/home/en/
[3] http://www1.wfp.org/
[4] https://www1.wfp.org/
[5] https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13354.doc.htm
[6] https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/01/1031462
[7] https://sharing.org/topic/poverty-and-hunger
[8] https://sharing.org/topic/war-and-conflict