Paris, 18 April 2022 (TDI): The United Nations (UN) has granted $100 million to combat hunger in seven countries to save millions of people from famine. Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has given this money to six African countries and Yemen.
The UN initiative to fight hunger will help provide food, cash, medical services, shelter, access to clean water, and the nutritional requirements of people in dire conditions. Similarly, the UN has emphasized using these allocations for girls and women in crisis.
UN initiative to fight hunger in African countries
The UN allocated funds to fight hunger in countries by dividing $30 million between Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. $20 million each will be granted to Sudan and Yemen. South Sudan and Nigeria will receive the same amount of $15 million.
Rise in Food Prices
Earlier this month, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported a record increase in food prices since 1990. The UN has granted these funds to eradicate food security in these countries.
Internal conflicts, the Ukraine war, drought, and economic crisis have worsened the situation in these countries. “Hundreds of thousands of children will sleep hungry every night while their parents are worried sick about how to feed them.
A war halfway around the world makes their prospects even worse. This allocation will save lives,” remarked the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths.
According to the statistics shared by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 161000 people in Yemen will face Phase 5 level by June.
Phase 5 is the situation in which starvation, death, acute malnutrition, and poverty are evident. Resultantly, famine is declared when the death rate passes certain thresholds.
Fifty-five thousand people in Sudan are already suffering from it. 4.5 million people in Sudan, Kenya, and Nigeria will be facing emergency level IPC Phase 4. However, a delayed response by humanitarian organizations can lead to similar situations in Somalia.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict had triggered a ‘global and systemic emergency’.
The crisis can push 1.7 billion people into poverty and hunger. He shared measures to minimize the impacts by timely aid, debt relief, and food reserves.
