At the initiative of ICVA, more than 200 humanitarian organisations, including INTERSOS, are asking governments to dedicate a single day’s worth of military spending to cover the $5.5 billion dollars needed to help those suffering from hunger.
A year after the United Nations sounded the alarm regarding the risk of “biblical famines,” more than 200 humanitarian organizations, including INTERSOS, have denounced increasing food insecurity in many countries around the world. Led by ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies), they have sent an open letter to governments asking for an urgent increase in aid this year to help the 34 million people worldwide who are on the brink of famine.
Donor countries have financed only 5% of the 7.8 billion dollars requested by the UN for 2021 to guarantee food security. The appeal says more aid is needed, in the amount of an additional $5.5 billion dollars – the equivalent of 26 hours of military spending – to prevent millions of people from starvation around the world.
Meanwhile, the situation in many countries continues to worsen. In Yemen, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Nigeria and many other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the intensification of conflicts and violence, worsening the living conditions of millions of people who suffer from hunger.
“The growth of food insecurity and hunger is one of the most dramatic effects of the situation that the world has been experiencing for a year now. The COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis and the growing impact of conflicts are having a devastating effect on the population,” underlines Konstantinos Moschochoritis, Director General of INTERSOS. “We see this clearly in our projects in Yemen and in many other countries in which we operate,” he adds. “An unprecedented situation should require a proportionate response. Unfortunately, what we see instead is a reduction in funds and interest from international donors. It is no longer time for appeals but for action: we cannot allow millions of people to fall into famine.”
As reported by the recent Call for Action to Avert Famine of the World Food Program and FAO, since the beginning of 2021, 270 million people are at high risk of or suffer from severe food insecurity. Today 174 million people in 58 countries are already at risk of dying from malnutrition or starvation. More than 34 million people are on the brink of famine and the slightest shock will be enough to push them into full-blown famine if urgent and immediate life-saving action is not activated. Already 155,000 people live in conditions of famine or probable famine in Yemen, South Sudan and Burkina Faso. Globally, average food prices are now the highest in the past seven years.
READ THE COMPLETE TEXT FROM THE OPEN LETTER