Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

‘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

0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
EU Investigates TikTok for Child Safety Concerns
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
France and Germany Struggle to Align on European Defense Strategy
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Russia "Very Close" To Creating Cancer Vaccines, Says Vladimir Putin
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Microsoft says it caught hackers from China, Russia and Iran using its AI tools
US Rejects Putin's Ceasefire Offer in Ukraine
The Dangers of Wildfire Smoke and Self-Protection Strategies
A Londoner has been arrested for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Chinese Women Favor AI Boyfriends Over Humans
Greece must address role in migrant vessel disaster that killed 600: Amnesty
Google pledges 25 million euros to boost AI skills in Europe
Hungarian President Katalin Novák Steps Down Amid Pardon Controversy
Activist crashes Hillary Clinton's speech, calls her a 'war criminal.'
In El Salvador, the 'Trump of Latin America' stuns the world with a speech slamming woke policing after winning a landslide election
Trudeau reacts to Putin's mention of Canadian Parliament applauding a former Ukrainian Nazi in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Spanish police blocked the farmers protest. So the farmers went out and moved the police car out of the way.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy fires top Ukraine army commander
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin raises EU concerns
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
Russia's Economy Expands by 3.6% Due to Increased Military Spending
Ukraine MPs Vote To Permit Use Of Dead Soldiers' Sperm
German Princess Becomes First Aristocrat To Pose Naked On Playboy Cover
UK’s King Charles III diagnosed with cancer
EU's Ursula von der Leyen Confronts Farmer Protests Amid Land Policy Debates
Distinguishing Between Harmful AI Media and Positive AI-Generated Content: A Crucial Challenge for the EU
Tucker Carlson explains why he interviewed Putin
Dutch farmers are still protesting in the Netherlands against the government, following the World Economic Forum's call for 'owning nothing.'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stands up for European farmers and says, 'Brussels is suffocating European farmers.
×