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As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the United Nations food agency warned Tuesday that an impending “hunger pandemic” will bring “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.”
Famine in up to three dozen countries is “a very real and dangerous possibility” due to ongoing wars and conflicts, economic crises and natural disasters, Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley, told the UN Security Council. UN during a virtual meeting.
Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, 821 million people experience chronic hunger, while another 135 million face “crisis hunger levels or worse,” Beasley said, citing the findings of the agency’s new report on global food crises. .
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Beasley pointed to the economic crisis in Lebanon, the wars in Syria and Yemen, and the swarms of desert locusts that destroy crops for much of East Africa as pre-existing factors that were already setting 2020 to be a dangerous year of famine.
As a result of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent economic ramifications, the food agency found that an additional 130 million people may be on the brink of starvation by the end of the year. Poor workers would be most affected as a result of declining tourism and exports, the collapse of oil prices and any decrease in foreign aid.
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The resulting death toll could exceed that of the coronavirus with 300,000 people dying from starvation every day for a period of three months, the agency reported.
Children are at particular risk, as blockages in response to the coronavirus keep them out of school, where they could normally receive subsidized meals.
“I must warn you that if we do not prepare and act now, to secure access, avoid shortages of funds and disruptions to trade, we could face multiple famines of Biblical proportions in a few months,” said Beasley.
Beasley told the Security Council, the UN’s most powerful body, that the World Food Program needs additional donations of $ 1.9 billion to store food for countries at risk plus another $ 350 million to support the distribution of humanitarian aid.
While there is no famine yet, “we don’t have time on our side,” Beasley said, urging world leaders to act quickly to provide aid.
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