Bermuda Post

Sunday, Mar 26, 2023

‘Take from the hungry -not from the rich- to feed the starving’: UN faces awful dilemma

‘Take from the hungry -not from the rich- to feed the starving’: UN faces awful dilemma

Agencies forced to cut back aid in Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ethiopia despite growing need as funds go to Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put huge pressure on an already shrinking pot of international aid.

Aid agencies working in countries with the most pressing emergencies, including Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ethiopia, are facing difficult decisions on how to spend their money.

Commenting on Yemen recently, the chief executive of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, said: “We have no choice but to take food from the hungry to feed the starving.”

Food aid is distributed at al-Jarahi town, in Hodeidah province, Yemen, February 2022.
Yemen


Needs in Yemen are increasing after seven years of war, an accompanying economic crisis that has forced many people into debt and the added threat of desert locusts destroying crops.

The victims of Yemen’s war and those of other humanitarian crises fuelled by conflicts and climate disasters have continued to suffer during the pandemic, but spending from international donors has been cut. This has forced humanitarians to scale back on what they provide, including food rations, and it is feared worse is to come.

Despite the number of people needing aid having already risen by more than 1 million to 17.4 million this year, and estimated to rise by more than 1 million by the end of 2022, the WFP said on Tuesday it had a food aid funding gap of $900m (£686m). Only 11% of its funding target has been met.

On Wednesday, donors pledged $1.3bn for Yemen, but this was $3bn short of the $4.3bn the UN says is required.

An estimated 31,000 people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger, according to the IPC scale used by humanitarians. That number could rise to 161,000 by June.

The UN food agency has already reduced rations for 8 million people but with the number of those most desperately in need still growing, and aid still lacking, it has warned of further cuts.

A UNHCR staff member assists distributes winter cash assistance in Kabul. Half the Afghan population is facing food insecurity.


Afghanistan


The freezing of development aid to Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover last year has plunged an already aid-reliant economy into a desperate humanitarian crisis. Half the population is facing food insecurity – among them 8.7 million people at risk of “famine-like” conditions.

But the UN $4.44bn appeal has only been 13% funded since launching in January. WFP alone is running $525m short of the funding it urgently requires to meet hunger needs for the next six months.

Most of the country is in debt, according to the UN, and 95% of families do not eat enough. Almost every female-headed household does not have enough food.

People who fled the war in Tigray await food from the WFP in a camp for internally displaced people in Debark, Ethiopia, September 2021.


Ethiopia


The fighting in and around Tigray in northern Ethiopia has displaced more than 2 million people. The UN is more than $300m short of its $957m funding target.

The UN wants to reach 870,000 people every week, but since mid-October it has reached only 740,000.

The situation has been complicated by the difficulties aid agencies face in accessing displacement camps because of continued fighting.

Most families in Tigray do not have enough food, the UN says, and are coping by reducing meals, selling crops to pay debts or begging. There are 454,000 malnourished children in the region – more than a quarter of them severely – and 120,000 malnourished women who are pregnant or lactating.

A World Food Programme aircraft makes a drop of food aid near a village in Ayod county, South Sudan.
South Sudan


South Sudan is facing its worst ever hunger crisis, according to the UN. It has warned that 70% of people will struggle to get through the coming lean period as supplies dry up. An estimated 8.9 million people, of a population of 11.4m, already require aid. But funding for South Sudan is $529m short.

The lean period is followed by a flood season, which over recent years has been extreme and extended, limiting the movement of communities and humanitarian agencies. The situation has been compounded by conflict in the country. Communities have resorted to fending for themselves, including looting aid supplies and attacking aid workers.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
Close
0:00
0:00
In a dramatic U-turn against His Government: Judicial Overhaul Legislation Must Be Halted, Says Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
Powell: Silicon Valley Bank was an 'outlier'
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman tours potential migrant housing in Rwanda as asylum deal remains mired in legal challenges
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
Nashville police officer, and a female driver shooting one another
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Mexican President Claims Mexico is Safer than the U.S.
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
'No relation to the American SVB': India's SVC Bank acts to calm depositors amid brand name confusion.
Good news: The U.S. government is now guaranteeing all deposits, held by, Silicon Valley Bank, and the funds are available as of today
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has apologized, but not resigned, yet, following the disruption of sports programmes over the weekend
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
A primitive judge in Australia sparked outrage when he told a breastfeeding woman to leave his courtroom for being “a distraction"
Barcelona is feeling the heat as they face corruption charges over payments to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Old clip of Bill Gates saying Ukraine is a big, fat, corrupt sinkhole is going viral
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
How do stolen goods end up on Amazon, eBay and Facebook Marketplace?
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Don Lemon, a CNN anchor, has provided a list of five areas that he believes the black community needs to address.
Hello. Here is our news digest from London.
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
White House: No ETs over the United States
×