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	Time to prioritize social justice by International Labour Organization, agencies   June 2024   Towards a renewed social contract. Report of the ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo.   Social justice remains an imperative and an essential condition for universal and lasting peace. Yet we know that trust in national and international governance is waning. We live in times of significant geopolitical instability, with wars continuing to rage in some parts of the world. Social cohesion is under pressure and political polarization is rampant and deepening.   Rather than having a sense of not being left behind, many feel that the system is rigged against them. The fine balance that many societies once maintained – in the sharing of collective responsibilities and benefits and the provision of solidarity in times of need-appears to have tipped in favour of a privileged few. When an economic crisis or extreme environmental event occurs, it is almost always the most vulnerable in our societies – most often women – who bear the brunt of the shock and carry the greatest burden.   How do we tackle the injustices, inequalities and insecurities facing us today? This report, my second to the International Labour Conference, carries forward the theme of social justice by focusing on the very foundation of just societies, upon which we build the opportunities and institutions for decent work: the social contract.   What do I mean by a social contract? Put simply, I mean the implicit, or at times explicit, understanding of our collective responsibilities towards each other that finds its expression in the norms, collective institutions and policies that fulfil the promise of the Declaration of Philadelphia that “all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity”.   http://www.ilo.org/resource/conference-paper/towards-renewed-social-contract-report-director-general http://www.ilo.org/resource/news/human-rights-economy-global-coalition-partners-highlight-role-social-and http://live.ilo.org/event/partners-conversation-human-rights-economy-2025-06-12 http://live.ilo.org/group/annual-forum-global-coalition-social-justice http://www.ilo.org/resource/news/ilo-brings-its-social-justice-message-4th-international-conference http://www.ilo.org/meetings-and-events/unlocking-social-protection-financing-pledge-practice http://socialprotection.org/ http://www.unrisd.org/en/activities/news-items/advancing-unrisds-research-agenda-perspectives-on-the-compromiso-de-sevilla-in-an-era-of-uncertainty http://www.unrisd.org/en/activities/events/unrisd-at-the-4th-international-conference-on-financing-for-development   Apr. 2023   Social justice indispensable to overcome global challenges, ILO tells World Bank/IMF.   Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo, calls for coherent multilateral action to strengthen the social dimension of sustainable development and economic growth – as envisaged by the ILO’s proposed Global Coalition for Social Justice. (Extract)   "According to the IMF, uncertainties in the world economy remain exceptionally high, with global economic growth expected to fall below 3 per cent this year because of the war in Ukraine, scarring from the Covid-19 pandemic and monetary tightening.   This global economic slowdown is likely to force more workers to accept lower quality, poorly paid jobs which lack employment security and social protection, accentuating inequalities that were already exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.   Global employment growth stands to be only 1.0 per cent in 2023, less than half the level in 2022. Global unemployment is projected by the ILO to rise to 208 million.   Women and young people are faring significantly worse in labour markets. Globally, the labour force participation rate of women stood at 47.4 per cent in 2022, compared with 72.3 per cent for men.   Young people (aged 15–24) face difficulties in finding and keeping decent employment. Their unemployment rate is three times that of adults. More than one-in-five – 23.5 per cent – of young people are not in employment, education or training.   Due to the slowdown in global employment growth, the ILO does not forecast the losses incurred during the COVID-19 crisis to be recovered before 2025.   Wages and purchasing power   The severe rise in inflation, combined with a global slowdown in economic growth, are causing a striking fall in real monthly wages in many countries. The crisis is reducing the purchasing power of the middle classes and hitting low-income households particularly hard. The current inflationary context is biting into real wage growth in most regions in the world.   Global monthly wages fell in real terms to minus 0.9 per cent in the first half of 2022.   The cost-of-living crisis comes on top of significant wage losses for workers and their families during the COVID-19 crisis. Rising inflation has a greater cost-of-living impact on lower-income earners. This is because they spend most of their disposable income on essential goods and services, which generally experience greater price increases than non-essential items.   Inflation is also biting into the purchasing power of minimum wages. Estimates show that despite nominal adjustments taking place, accelerating price inflation is quickly eroding the real value of minimum wages in many countries.   ILO research shows that nominal wages are not catching up with inflation as measured by the CPI, and that wages are falling in real terms.   Income inequality and poverty will rise if the purchasing power of the lowest paid is not maintained.   There is an urgent need to apply well-designed policy measures to help maintain the purchasing power and living standards of wage workers and their families.   Adequate adjustment of minimum wage rates could be an effective tool, given that 90 per cent of countries have minimum wage systems in place. Social dialogue and collective bargaining can also help to achieve adequate wage adjustments during a crisis. This could contribute to safeguarding the standard of living of households – particularly low-income households – against unexpected future inflation hikes.   It is also important to ensure the adjustment of social protection benefits to the rising cost of living if we are to protect the purchasing power of households, especially those on low-incomes, and prevent an even greater number of persons from falling into poverty.   More than half of all social protection schemes for which the ILO has data do not have any specific rules to adjust benefit levels to changes in the cost of living, while the remaining schemes have rules that adjust the amount of benefit to inflation, real wages or a mix of the two.   Other policies that can ease the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on households include measures targeting specific groups, such as giving vouchers to low-income households to help them buy essential goods, or cutting Value Added Tax on these goods to reduce the burden inflation places on households.   Particular attention is needed to workers at the middle and lower end of the pay scale. Fighting against the deterioration of real wages can help maintain economic growth, which in turn can help to restore the employment levels observed before the pandemic. This can be an effective way to lessen the probability or depth of recessions in all countries and regions.   The pay gap between women and men continues to be an important factor behind wage inequality. Given that the gender pay gap remains persistently high across countries and regions, greater efforts are required to further reduce gender pay inequalities.   This includes improving the educational situation of women and striving for a more equitable distribution of women and men across occupations and industries.   It also includes reducing the motherhood pay gap, increasing pay in undervalued, highly feminized sectors and industries, and implementing legal frameworks and policies to increase pay transparency at the enterprise level with a view to eliminating pay discrimination.   Social protection floors for all and human well-being   Universal social protection is a human right and a State responsibility. In addition, there is increased recognition that social protection is fundamental in reducing poverty and inequality, in improving human capital and productivity and in supporting decent work and economic dynamism.   The COVID-19 crisis highlighted how crucial national social protection systems are to protect people from both routine life-cycle risks as well as systemic crises and shocks. In addition to claiming more than 6 million lives, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented loss of jobs and livelihoods.   This has exacerbated income insecurity around the world, particularly for the more than half of the global population without any access to social protection, including the 2 billion workers in the informal economy..   http://live.ilo.org/events/how-can-social-protection-support-human-rights-and-advance-social-justice-2022-12-08 http://wid.world/news-article/whats-new-about-wealth-inequality-in-the-world/ http://www.ituc-csi.org/a-new-social-contract http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2023/12/world-bank-and-imf-promoting-private-finance-and-fiscal-consolidation-despite-mounting-evidence-of-harmful-impacts/ http://www.ipsnews.net/2024/01/ppps-private-gain-public-expense/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2021/10/joint-statement-independent-united-nations-human-rights-experts-warning-threat   Mar. 2023 (ILO News)   The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how societies have undervalued essential workers, as well as the importance of giving workers adequate pay and decent working conditions.   Countries need to improve the working conditions and earnings of key workers – who were essential during the COVID-19 crisis – to fully reflect their contribution to society and their importance in the daily functioning of economies, a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) says.   The report, World Employment and Social Outlook 2023: The value of essential work , underscores the extent to which economies and societies depend on key workers, and also how they are undervalued.   The poor working conditions of key workers exacerbate employee turnover and labour shortages, jeopardizing the provision of basic services. Improvements in working conditions and greater investment in food systems, health care and other key sectors are necessary for building economic and social resilience to shocks, the report says.   Key workers can be found in eight main occupational groups covering health, food systems, retail, security, cleaning and sanitation, transport, manual, and technical and clerical occupations.   In the 90 countries where data was available, 52 per cent of all employment is done by key workers, although in high-income countries, where economic activities are more diversified, the share is lower (34 per cent).   During the COVID-19 crisis key workers suffered higher mortality rates than non-key workers, overall. Among different categories of key workers mortality rates varied; for example, in countries with available data, transport workers had higher mortality rates than health workers.   The findings reveal the importance of occupational safety and health (OSH) protection, as well as the greater security associated with working in formal workplaces, with collective representation.   Lower wages, longer hours, and other deficits in working conditions   Across the world 29 per cent of key workers are low paid (where low paid is defined as pay that is less than two-thirds of the hourly median wage). On average, key workers earn 26 per cent less than other employees, with only two-thirds of this gap being accounted for by education and experience. In food systems, the share of low paid key employees is particularly high, at 47 per cent, and in cleaning and sanitation it is 31 per cent.   These sectors employ a large share of migrants, especially in high-income countries.   Nearly one-in-three key workers is on a temporary contract, although there are considerable country and sectoral differences. In the food industry 46 per cent are in temporary work. One-in-three employees in manual occupations and in cleaning and sanitation, are on temporary contracts.   Cleaning and security work is commonly outsourced, and other key occupations are routinely staffed with agency workers. This is particularly the case in warehousing and increasingly so in healthcare.   More than 46 per cent of key employees in low-income countries work long hours. Long working hours are more common in transport, where nearly 42 per cent of key workers across the globe work more than 48 hours a week. A substantial share of key workers around the world also have irregular schedules or short hours.   Nearly 60 per cent of key workers in low- and middle-income countries lack some form of social protection. In low-income countries social protection is minimal, only reaching 17 per cent of key workers. The picture is even bleaker for self-employed key workers in most developing countries, as they are almost entirely without social protection.   Ensuring decent work   “Healthcare workers, supermarket cashiers, delivery workers, postal workers, seafarers, cleaners, and others supplying food and necessities continued to perform their jobs, day in and day out, even at the height of the pandemic, often at great personal risk,” said ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo.   “Valuing key workers means ensuring that they receive adequate pay and work in good conditions. Decent work is an objective for all workers but it is particularly critical for key workers, who provide vital necessities and services both in good times and bad.”   To ensure the continuity of essential services during future pandemics or other shocks such as natural disasters, the report recommends greater investment in the physical infrastructure, productive capacity and human resources of key sectors. Under-investment, especially in health and food systems, contributes to decent work deficits that undermine both social justice and economic resilience. Among other recommendations, the report calls for:   Ensuring that Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) systems cover all branches of economic activity and all workers, with clear duties and rights specified, through collaboration between government, workers’ and employers’ representatives.   Improving pay to compensate for key worker undervaluation and to reduce the wage gap between key and non-key employees, including through negotiated or statutory minimum wages.   Guaranteeing safe and predictable working hours through regulation, including collective bargaining. Adapting legal frameworks so that all workers, regardless of their employment status and contractual arrangements, are covered by social protection, especially paid sick leave. Increasing access to training so that key workers can carry out their work effectively and safely.   The report outlines a framework that countries can use, as part of a process of social dialogue, to identify gaps in decent work and economic resilience in respect of their key workers and essential services and to develop a national strategy to address these through strengthened policies and investment. http://bit.ly/3KZB1JD   Feb. 2023   Inequality is a barrier to social justice   A combination of mutually-reinforcing crises – inflation, debt, food and fuel price rises, geopolitical tensions and conflict, climate change are increasing poverty, inequality and discrimination worldwide.   Around the world people are struggling to recover from the socioeconomic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated lives and deepened inequalities.   Women’s share of total incomes from work is less than 35 per cent, just a five per cent rise relative to 1990. 214 million workers live in extreme poverty, on less than $1.90 a day, and the number of working poor is increasing in developing countries.   Far too many people are forced to eke out a living on less than $2.00 a day without rights and social protection and little prospects for a better future.   Poverty and inequalities within and among countries are on the rise in many parts of the world. Inequality remains very high, with annual gross domestic product per capita ranging from about $600 at purchasing power parity in the poorest country to more than $115,000 in the richest country.   The top 10 per cent of the global population currently takes 52 per cent of global income, whereas the poorest half earns 6.5 per cent of it.   Some 290 million young people globally are not in education, employment, or training, while two billion people work in the informal economy. Unstable jobs and income, unhealthy and unsafe working conditions and no social protection led to a disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these workers that saw their earnings drop by 60 per cent in 2020.   The world needs a strong and sustained dose of social justice says ILO's Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo:   "We have the 5%, 10% of the richest in the world that sees their wealth keep growing. Then on the other hand, when you talk about 50% of the world's population with zero social protection, you have more than 200 million people, workers that are remaining poor despite 40 hours of work. They cannot secure a $1.90 per day. Working poverty, the working poor.   With COVID, I remember very well, how striking it was when we, that were living in this part of the world were vaccinated at the rate of 70%. When I called my family back home in Togo, the vaccination was maybe at 5%.   It's important to bring social justice back on the front line. The very important thing is really fighting against inequalities, discrimination, ensuring every human being should have same opportunity. Having decent work and dignifying work, people are not asking more than that. Having a minimum protection, what the ILO calls the social protection floors, is part of the social justice.   Let's be very clear. Social justice goes beyond ILO mandate. The right to food security. The right to health. Access to water and sanitation, access to education, having the freedom, the voice to express what one feels, or work safely. I can go on. Gender equality and inclusion. The right to social protection.   Essentially, we need to ensure that our life, our social contracts are balanced, that we don't create too much inequalities. What's the value of making financial progress just to end up by fueling 5% of the richest and having the majority of people still in the dark?"   http://voices.ilo.org/podcast/ilo-director-general--why-we-need-greater-social-justice http://www.ilo.org/secsoc/lang--en/index.htm http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/cooperatives/sse/lang--en/index.htm http://unsse.org/sse-and-the-sdgs/ http://knowledgehub.unsse.org/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2023/04/statement-un-human-rights-chief-human-rights-economy http://www.ohchr.org/en/sdgs/seeding-change-economy-enhances-human-rights-surge-initiative http://www.cesr.org/rights-based-economy/ http://gi-escr.org/en/resources Visit the related web page
	Russia withdraws from Black Sea Grain Initiative by UN News, WFP, agencies   17 July 2023 (News agencies)   Russia has withdrawn from a pact that saw more than 32 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain exported to 45 different countries in the past year.   The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered between Ukraine and Russia by the United Nations (UN) and Turkiye nearly 12 months ago to allow food to be exported from Ukrainian ports during the ongoing war. Russia also has a separate memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the UN that facilitates exports of its fertiliser and grain.   UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres said he deeply regrets Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, saying hundreds of millions of people facing hunger as well as hard-pressed consumers will pay the price.   The deal was designed to alleviate a food crisis sparked by a Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports that had frozen millions of tonnes of grain exports around the world, much of it to developing countries.   Mr. Guterres said grain prices were already rising on the markets after the news that Russia had terminated the agreement.   The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had earlier said he hoped for progress in talks at the UN on keeping the deal alive, but Guterres’s statement indicated that the voluntary deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey last year and subject to renewal every three months, was over.   The Russian state news agency Tass quoted a senior Russian official at the UN as saying that the decision was final, but that Russsia would continue to discuss with the UN for a period of 3 months conditions it required to restart the deal.   Mr. Guterres said he deeply regretted the Russian decision, and indicated that he struggled to understand why it had terminated the agreement.   “Russian grain trade has reached high export volumes and fertiliser markets are stabilising with Russian exports nearing full recovery, as stated by the Russian Union of Grain Exporters and Russian Fertiliser Producers’ Association,” he said.   The secretary general added that he had secured two US waivers that exempted Russia from sanctions for food exports, a British waiver on insurance on Russian shipping and an EU exemption that allowed the unfreezing of Russian fertilisers. In addition, a bespoke arrangement had been set up to allow the subsidiary of a Russia agriculture bank to access the international Swift payment system. Mr. Guterres said he was “deeply disappointed that my proposals went unheeded”.   He said: “Today’s decision by the Russian Federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere. But it will not stop our efforts to facilitate the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”   Murithi Mutiga, the director of the Africa programme for the International Crisis Group, said: “The impact of the collapse of the grain deal in Africa will be substantial. Much of the grain did not find its way to poorer countries as the UN had initially envisioned but the effect of the deal was to stabilise supply on the world market and keep prices relatively stable.   “Many countries on the continent face double-digit inflation and some such as Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana have already witnessed protests over rising food and fuel prices. If the deal cannot be revived and prices rise further, as a consequence, that will compound the economic crisis multiple countries face."   * Latter in the day in the midst of the Ukraine conflict, grain terminals in Odessa were bombed, destroying 60,000 tonnes of wheat and damaging port infrastructure. The Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned the attack that damaged the Ukrainian port of Odesa overnight, just hours after the termination of the Black Sea Initiative. Ms. Brown said civilian infrastructure key to food security globally appears to have been targeted. Such facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.   http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/humanitarian-coordinator-ukraine-denise-brown-strongly-condemns-russian-attacks-izmail-and-other-ukrainian-ports-enruuk http://www.unocha.org/story/un-relief-chief-underlines-importance-black-sea-initiative-global-food-security http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138982 http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138927 http://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2023-07-17/secretary-generals-press-encounter-the-black-sea-initiative http://www.care.org/news-and-stories/press-releases/care-responds-to-russias-withdrawal-from-the-black-sea-initiative/ http://www.savethechildren.net/news/millions-more-children-face-hunger-black-sea-grain-corridor-not-renewed http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/russia-ukraine-suspension-of-black-sea-grain-deal-will-exacerbate-hunger/ http://www.oxfam.org.nz/news-media/media-releases/black-sea-grain-deal/   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/03/eu-calls-on-g20-to-help-persuade-vladimir-putin-to-re-open-ukraine-grain-export-route http://www.dw.com/en/un-security-council-food-insecurity-tops-agenda/a-66433948 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66360064 http://www.icrc.org/en/document/food-security-in-armed-conflict-what-you-need-know http://starvationaccountability.org/news-and-events/is-russia-violating-international-law-by-targeting-ukraines-food-supply/ http://starvationaccountability.org/publications/outcome-document-2022-protection-of-civilians-week-side-event-on-conflict-and-hunger/   17 May 2023   Continuation of the Black Sea Initiative. (UNCTAD)   The Black Sea Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022 to resume vital food and fertilizer exports from designated Ukrainian seaports, will continue for 60 days.   United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the news, following the confirmation by the Russian Federation to continue its participation in the initiative for another 60 days.   “I welcome this decision,” Mr. Guterres said. “The continuation is good news for the world.” He said the importance of the initiative – and the parallel Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and the Russian Federation on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to world markets – is clear.   “These agreements matter for global food security. Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world.”   Under the initiative, more than 30 million tons of grain and foodstuffs have been exported. Vital food supplies are reaching some of the world’s most vulnerable people and places – including 30,000 tons of wheat that just left Ukraine aboard a ship chartered by the World Food Programme to feed hungry people in Sudan.   The agreements matter, the UN chief said, “because we are still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis.”   Over the last year, the agreements have helped stabilize markets and reduce volatility. Mr. Guterres said the agreements “demonstrate that, even in the darkest hours, there is always a beacon of hope and an opportunity to find solutions that benefit everyone”. He conveyed his appreciation to all those taking part in the negotiations “in a spirit of constructive engagement”.   “I hope we will reach a comprehensive agreement to improve, expand and extend the initiative,” Mr. Guterres said. He added: “Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably – as foreseen in both the Black Sea Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding on Russian food and fertilizer exports – the implementation of which the United Nations is fully committed to support.   http://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2023/06/82190/ukraine-war-guterres-calls-continuation-vital-food-and-fertilizer http://unctad.org/news/continuation-black-sea-initiative http://www.un.org/en/black-sea-grain-initiative   Nov. 2022   Russia agrees to rejoin Ukraine grain export deal. (News agencies)   Russia has said it will rejoin a UN-backed agreement to allow the export of grain from Ukraine via a safe Black Sea corridor, with shipments expected to resume on Wednesday.   Russian government officals said they had received guarantees that the Black Sea grain corridor would not be used for military operations, and that it is resuming the implementation of the agreement.   The deal, overseen by the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, has allowed more than 9.7 million metric tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukrainian ports. This has brought some relief to a global food crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a key grain exporter.   Under the terms of the deal, which was agreed on in July, ships moving to and from Ukraine are inspected by a joint team of Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian and UN officials.   The Russian blockade of Ukrainian exports has exacerbated food shortages and a cost of living crisis in many countries, as Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of grain and oilseeds. Countries particularly in Africa and the Middle East have faced shortages of food imports and dramatic food inflation impacts.   According to the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, “thirty-eight countries have purchased some nine million tons of grain from Ukraine under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.”   The blockade of shipments from Russia and Ukraine – which supplies nearly 30 percent of the world's exported wheat and barley, as well as other cooking oils and fertilizer – severely impacts global food prices and has had a particularly devastating impact on efforts to deliver aid to the most vulnerable communities around the world.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/11/1130107 http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/11/1130092 http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/remarks-security-council-under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-martin-griffiths-delivered-31-october-2022   30 Oct. 2022   UN chief ‘deeply concerned’ by stalled Black Sea Grain Initiative. (UN News)   UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed deep concern at Russia’s decision to suspend its involvement in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal set up to reintroduce vital food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world.   Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, mountains of grains built up in silos, with ships unable to secure safe passage to and from Ukrainian ports, and land routes were unable to compensate.   This contributed to vertiginous rises in the price of staple foods around the world. Combined with increases in the cost of energy, developing countries were pushed to the brink of debt default and increasing numbers of people found themselves on the brink of famine.   The Initiative was due to run out in the second half of November, but there was an option to extend it, if all parties, including Russian and Ukraine, agree.   The deal was demonstrably successful in bringing down prices, allowing millions of tonnes of grain to be safely transported from Ukrainian ports. By September, Rebecca Grynspan, the head of the UN trade body, UNCTAD, and Amir Abdulla, the UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, announced that prices had decreased nearly 14 per cent from its March peak.   According to UN estimates, the Initiative has indirectly prevented some 100 million people from falling into extreme poverty.   However, on Saturday Russia announced that it was suspending its involvement in the deal. The move raised fears of another steep rise in food prices. Arif Husain, Chief Economist at the World Food Programme (WFP), warned that Russia’s decision poses a danger to a large number of countries, and should be resolved as soon as possible.   The Secretary-General is working at ending the Russian suspension of its participation in the Initiative. This engagement also aims at the renewal and full implementation of the initiative to facilitate exports of food and fertilizer from Ukraine, as well as removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertilizer.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1130022 http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1130012 http://reliefweb.int/report/world/russia-halting-ukraine-grain-exports-will-most-heavily-hit-those-already-facing-extreme-hunger-warns-irc http://www.passblue.com/2022/10/31/except-for-russia-un-security-council-members-say-keep-the-black-sea-grain-deal-alive/   July 2022   Leaders of humanitarian agencies welcome Grain agreement.   "The lifting of these blockades will go some way in easing the extreme hunger that over 18 million people in East Africa are facing, with three million already facing catastrophic hunger conditions," said Shashwat Saraf, the International Rescue Committee's East Africa emergency director.   "The next and significant step must be fully funding the humanitarian response in the region, to stave off the worst impacts of the drought and prevent a catastrophic, unprecedented famine from fully engulfing the region by the end of the summer," Saraf added.   Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, said that if the deal is respected, it "will help ease grain shortages, but let's be clear—this will not end or significantly alter the trajectory of the worsening global food crisis."   "Unblocking Ukraine's ports will not reverse the damage war has wreaked on crops, agricultural land, and agricultural transit routes in the country; it will not significantly change the price or availability of fuel, fertilizer, and other staple goods that are now beyond the reach of many, particularly in lower-income countries; and it will certainly not help the majority of the 50 million people around the world inching closer to famine stave off starvation," she said.   Highlighting conditions from Afghanistan, Colombia, and Guatemala to Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, McKenna argued that "we must recognize that our global food systems were already failing and record numbers of people were edging toward poverty and hunger due to the economic pummeling of the Covid-19 crisis and the impacts of climate change."   Along with providing emergency assistance, she said, "urgent action must be taken to strengthen agricultural food systems: Scale climate-resilient agricultural production and boost support for local agriculture by providing smallholder farmers the information, financial, and regulatory support they need to help their communities and countries reduce reliance on imports."   http://www.rescue.org/press-release/lifting-blockade-ukraine-ports-first-step-towards-easing-global-hunger-crisis-says http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/ukraine-grain-blockade-deal http://www.wfp.org/stories/bulk-carrier-sets-ukraine-grain-wfp-first-start-war http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-reaction-first-shipment-grain-leaving-ukraine http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/two-weeks-increase-food-billionaires-wealth-enough-fully-fund-east-africa-hunger http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/23/record-profits-grain-firms-food-crisis-calls-windfall-tax   6 May 2022   War in Ukraine: WFP calls for ports to reopen as world faces deepening hunger crisis - Lifesaving food remains trapped while a record number of families struggle to survive.   The World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for the immediate reopening of Black Sea ports so critical food from Ukraine can reach people facing acute food insecurity in countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen where millions are on the brink.   “We’re running out of time and the impact of inaction will be felt around the world for years to come,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the the World Food Programme.   Pointing to the rising costs of food, fuel and shipping, Beasley stressed no one is immune to the consequences of the ongoing war. Today, as record numbers of people wonder what they will eat tomorrow, harvests from Ukrainian farms are failing to be shipped to the destinations where they are needed most.   “Right now, Ukraine’s grain silos are full. At the same time, 44 million people around the world are marching towards starvation,” said Beasley.   Before the war, most of the food produced by Ukraine – enough to feed 400 million people – was exported through the country’s seven Black Sea ports. In the eight months before the conflict began, close to 51 million metric tons of grain passed through them, according to WFP.   “We have to open up these ports so that food can move in and out of Ukraine,” said Beasley. “The world demands it because hundreds of millions of people globally depend on food that comes through these ports.”   Global food prices have risen sharply since the onset of the crisis. This will affect local food prices and people in the most vulnerable locations, on extremely tight budgets, are particularly at risk. In the month after the conflict started, export prices for wheat and maize rose by 22 percent and 20 percent respectively, on top of steep rises in 2021.   It comes in a year forecast, even before the war, to be one of catastrophic hunger with needs outpacing resources to help people going hungry across the world.   In West Africa, acute hunger is already at a ten-year high as the region struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic – with costs already high, many will suffer as prices rise even further.   The ripple effect of the Ukraine crisis will worsen the food insecurity situation in East Africa, too – Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan are amongst those likely to be hardest hit due to their reliance on imports from Russia and Ukraine.   Food and oil price hikes are driving up WFP’s monthly operational costs by up to US$71 million a month, effectively reducing its ability to respond to hunger crises around the world.   “The war in Ukraine is a catastrophe on top of catastrophe,” said Beasley. “I urge all parties involved to allow this food to get out of Ukraine to where it’s desperately needed so we can avert the looming threat of famine.”   http://www.wfp.org/news/failing-open-ukrainian-ports-means-declaring-war-global-food-security-wfp-chief-warns-un http://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2022-05-18/secretary-generals-remarks-the-global-food-security-call-action-ministerial-delivered http://www.ipcinfo.org/ukraine http://www.wfp.org/stories/war-ukraine-wfp-calls-ports-reopen-world-faces-hunger-crisis http://www.wfp.org/hunger-catastrophe http://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-report-food-crises-2022 http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/crises http://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-june-september-2022 http://static.hungermapdata.org/insight-reports/latest/global-summary.pdf http://hungermap.wfp.org/ http://dataviz.vam.wfp.org/version2/   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/05/1118562 http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/06/trade-and-right-food-path-sdg2 http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2021/07/social-protection-must-be-strengthened-next-crisis http://www.nrc.no/news/2022/may/joint-ngo-statement-on-global-food-security-and-conflict-induced-hunger http://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/31/africa-warns-of-food-crisis-due-to-russian-blockade-of-ukraines-ports http://euobserver.com/ukraine/154935 Visit the related web page
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