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Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity
by WFP, Food & Agriculture Organization, agencies
 
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are calling for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in 18 hotspots – comprising a total of 17 countries and one regional cluster of four countries (drought-affected Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe) - where acute hunger is at a high risk of worsening from June to October 2024.
 
The report spotlights the urgent need of assistance to prevent the further deterioration in the devastating hunger crises in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan. It also warns of further climate extremes upending lives and livelihoods.
 
The report highlights that many hunger hotspots face growing hunger crises with the worrying multiplier effect that simultaneous and overlapping shocks are having on acute food insecurity.
 
Conflict, climate extremes, and economic shocks continue to drive vulnerable households into food crises. Declining humanitarian funding is failing to meet urgent humanitarian assistance needs.
 
The ongoing conflict in Palestine is expected to further aggravate already catastrophic levels of acute hunger, with starvation and death already taking place, alongside the unprecedented death toll, widespread destruction and displacement of nearly the total population of the Gaza Strip – the report warns.
 
In mid-March 2024, famine was projected to occur by the end of May in the two northern governorates of the Gaza Strip, unless hostilities ended, full access was granted to humanitarian agencies, and essential services were restored. Over one million people – half the population of Gaza – are expected to face death and starvation (IPC Phase 5) by mid-July.
 
The report also warns of broader regional ramifications of the crisis, which risk exacerbating the already high food security needs in Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic.
 
Conflict and displacement also continue at an alarming pace and magnitude in the Sudan, where time is running out to save lives and the lean season looms – the report warns. The outlook for food production is bleak, and there is a rapidly shrinking window to support farmers before the main planting season ends and the rains begin, limiting access to the hardest-hit communities.
 
18 million people are acutely food insecure, including 3.6 million children acutely malnourished, and famine is rapidly closing in on millions of people in Darfur, Kordofan, Al Jazirah and Khartoum as recently stated by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
 
The crisis – now in its second year – is home to the largest number of internally displaced people in the world at nearly 10 million.
 
A further two million people have fled across borders, deepening the burden on neighbouring countries hosting a steadily growing number of refugees and returnees – especially in South Sudan and Chad, where existing hunger crises are deepening by the spillover from the deadly conflict in the Sudan.
 
In Haiti, in the midst of a protracted economic crisis, violence linked to non-state armed groups have disrupted food supplies and forced over 362,000 people to flee their homes and abandon their livelihoods – including farmland - amid continued uncertainties about the timing of the deployment of a Multinational Security Support Mission.
 
The report warns that critical levels of food insecurity and malnutrition risk worsening further, with the threat of catastrophic conditions reemerging, especially in areas where humanitarian access is limited by gang violence.
 
In Mali, already critical and catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity are likely to further increase, driven primarily by an intensification of conflict and compounded by the full withdrawal of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.
 
In South Sudan, the number of people facing starvation and death is projected to almost double between April and July 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. Tight domestic food supplies and sharp currency depreciation are driving food prices to soar, compounded by likely floods and recurrent waves of subnational conflict. A projected further rise of returnees and refugees from the Sudan is likely to increase acute food insecurity among both new arrivals and host communities.
 
The previous Hunger Hotspots report from 2023 warned of the threat posed by El Nino weather pattern and associated extreme climatic events that put millions of people at risk of hunger and malnutrition. As the El Nino episode comes to an end, it is evident that its impact was severe and widespread – including devastating drought in Southern Africa and extensive floods in East Africa.
 
This edition of the report warns that La Nina weather conditions are expected to prevail between August 2024 and February 2025, significantly influencing rainfall distribution and temperatures. The shift in climate could have major implications for several hotspots, including risk of floods in parts of South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Chad, Mali and Nigeria, as well as the Sudan.
 
Meanwhile, the Caribbean is bracing for an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season. The report warns that due to the uncertainty of current forecasts, continuous monitoring will be vital.
 
According to the report, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan and the Sudan remain at the highest alert level and require the urgent attention. Haiti was added to the list due to escalating violence and threats to food security. Conflict is the primary driver of hunger in all these areas.
 
All hotspots of the highest concern have communities facing or projected to face starvation, or are at risk of sliding towards catastrophic conditions, given they have already emergency levels of food insecurity and are facing severe aggravating factors.
 
Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of very high concern, with a large number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life-threatening conditions in the coming months.
 
Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (October 2023), the Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia have joined Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia and Zimbabwe in the list of hunger hotspots, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period.
 
The report provides country-specific recommendations on priorities for anticipatory action and immediate emergency response to address existing and emerging needs to save lives and ensure predictable hazards do not become full-blown humanitarian disasters. Immediate humanitarian action delivered at scale will be critical to prevent further starvation and death in countries most at risk.
 
http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150646 http://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/hunger-hotspots-report-famine-looms-in-gaza-while-risk-of-starvation-persists-in-sudan--haiti--mali--and-south-sudan/en http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-june-october-2024-outlook http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots/en
 
Oct. 2024
 
Sudan faces one of the worst famines in decades, warn UN experts. (OHCHR)
 
A staggering 97 percent of Sudan’s IDPs, along with civilians who remain in their homes, are facing severe levels of hunger, UN experts warned today, accusing the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of using ‘starvation tactics’ against 25 million civilians in the country.
 
“Never in modern history have so many people faced starvation and famine as in Sudan today,” the experts said.
 
Zamzam camp in North Darfur, home to half a million IDPs, faces some of the direst conditions. Other IDP camps in El Fasher are also at risk of famine. Indeed, more than 8.4 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes to locations within Sudan or to neighbouring countries, posing a grave threat to most of their human rights."
 
“In order for the starvation and famine in Sudan to end, is for RSF and SAF to stop immediately obstructing aid delivery in Sudan through bureaucratic – administrative barriers, attacks against local respondents and for foreign governments to halt financial and military support of the SAF and RSF. Humanitarian organisations should be allowed to expand their operations and deliver essential food items and medicines,” the experts said.
 
“It is critical for humanitarian organisations to utilise all available channels for humanitarian deliveries, including lesser-used routes, to ensure aid reaches the most vulnerable populations”.
 
Both SAF and RSF, along with their foreign supporters, are responsible for what is an apparent deliberate use of starvation, constituting crimes against humanity and war crimes under international law.”
 
In Darfur, Al Jazirah and Khartoum, markets have come under attack, and in many areas the hostilities have resulted in inflated food prices, damaged farms, crops and machinery. Local civil society networks report mandatory taxes on farming and livestock being imposed by the RSF in Darfur, and impediments to humanitarian delivery in Blue Nile State.
 
With the November harvest approaching, many farmers may be unable to plant again due to destroyed infrastructure, rising seed costs and fear of theft and attacks.
 
“Two thirds of Sudan’s population live in rural areas and their livelihood is being devastated by the war. We urge local authorities to facilitate safe engagement in agricultural activities through support to Crop Protection Committees,” the experts said.
 
They noted that while the Adre border crossing reopened on August 15, 2024, for a three-month period to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, the volume of aid currently being delivered through this corridor is not enough to meet the population's needs.
 
The onset of the rainy season and flooding in eastern Sudan and the northern state have worsened the situation. Though hard to estimate, agricultural damage and livestock losses are significant, and mining and water contamination complicate the crisis. The fear of starvation and famine continues to loom.
 
The experts expressed dismay that international donors and governments have not delivered their pledges. The Sudan humanitarian response plan, which designates US$1.44 billion for humanitarian assistance, has only received 50.8% of required funding, leaving significant gaps.
 
Before the conflict began, two-thirds of Sudan’s population was already living in extreme poverty, and now even more people are facing the prospect of complete destitution.
 
The experts noted that international humanitarian organisations and donors must increase funding on flexible terms, consider providing mutual aid groups with cash and liquidity, help local farmers to purchase seeds and other agricultural inputs and improve purchasing power through cash transfers to prevent further deepening poverty.
 
One of the most reliable means of food delivery to civilians comes through emergency response rooms and communal kitchens – civilians-run volunteer spaces that provide food to millions despite the dangers involved.
 
Local communities in Sudan have shown remarkable determination, organising mutual aid groups, running soup kitchens, including on the frontline, and revitalising markets to ensure survival. However, volunteers are frequently targeted, harassed and attacked by parties to the conflict.
 
“Local mutual aid organisations and solidarity operations in Sudan are the main lifeline for civilians in this war,” the experts said. “They must be better supported and protected by international humanitarian organisations.”
 
“The world must pay attention to the largest modern famine taking shape in Sudan today,” the experts said. “We call for an immediate ceasefire and a political solution to end this horror and urgent assistance. We have repeatedly raised warnings with the authorities in the past, urging action to prevent this unfolding catastrophe, but the situation has now reached critical levels requiring immediate global attention.”
 
http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/sudan-faces-one-worst-famines-decades-warn-un-experts http://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity http://www.fao.org/giews/country-analysis/external-assistance/en/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/resources/countries-in-focus/en/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/
 
Aug. 2024
 
Famine in Sudan: IPC Famine Review Committee confirms Famine conditions in North Darfur
 
The Famine Review Committee (FRC) of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has concluded that famine conditions are prevalent in parts of North Darfur, including the Zamzam camp south of El Fasher. The escalating violence in Sudan, which has been persisting for over 15 months now, has severely impeded humanitarian access and pushed parts of North Darfur into Famine, notably Zamzam IDP camp.
 
Areas are classified in IPC Phase 5 (Famine) when at least one in five (or 20 percent) people or households have an extreme lack of food and face starvation and destitution, resulting in extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death.
 
The Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp is located approximately 12 kilometres south of El Fasher town and represents one of the largest IDP camps in Sudan, with an estimated population of at least 500,000.
 
The scale of devastation brought by the escalating violence in El Fasher town is profound and harrowing. Persistent, intense, and widespread clashes have forced many residents to seek refuge in IDP camps, where they face a stark reality: basic services are scant or absent, compounding the hardship of displacement. Around 320,000 people are believed to have been displaced since mid-April in El Fasher. Around 150,000 to 200,000 of them are believed to have moved to Zamzam camp in search of security, basic services, and food since mid-May. The camp population has expanded to over half a million in a few weeks.
 
Restrictions on humanitarian access, including intentional impediments imposed by the active parties to the conflict, have severely restricted the capability of aid organisations to scale up their response efforts effectively. These obstructions have critically hindered the delivery of necessary aid and exacerbated the food crisis, driving some households into Famine conditions. As with any Famine, there is a multi-sectoral collapse, and basic human needs for health services, water, food , nutrition, shelter, and protection are not being met.
 
The impacts of widespread conflict are driving the risk of Famine across many other areas of Sudan, including areas of Greater Darfur, parts of South Kordofan and Khartoum.
 
Famine confirmed in Sudan’s North Darfur, confirming UN agencies worst fears
 
“We urgently need a massive expansion of humanitarian access so we can halt the famine that has taken hold in North Darfur and stop it sweeping across Sudan. The warring parties must lift all restrictions and open new supply routes across borders, and across conflict lines, so relief agencies can get to cut-off communities with desperately needed food and other humanitarian aid,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “I also call on the international community to act now to secure a ceasefire in this brutal conflict and end Sudan’s slide into famine. It is the only way we will reverse a humanitarian catastrophe that is destabilizing this entire region of Africa.”
 
“Today’s news confirms some of our worst fears that famine is occurring in parts of Sudan and is inflicting unimaginable suffering on children and families who are already reeling from the impact of a horrific war,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “This famine is fully man-made. We again call on all the parties to provide the humanitarian system with unimpeded and safe access to children and families in need. We must be able to use all routes, across lines of conflict and borders. Sudan’s children cannot wait. They need protection, basic services and most of all, a ceasefire and peace.”
 
UNICEF and WFP continue to call on all parties to guarantee safe unhindered and sustained humanitarian access, to allow the humanitarian response to be further expanded and to allow the agencies to deliver at speed. The agencies also urge the international community to intensify their financial support for humanitarian efforts and use every diplomatic tool at their disposal to bring about an immediate ceasefire WFP and UNICEF have mobilised a large-scale humanitarian response with local and international partners, inside Sudan and in neighbouring countries where more than 2 million Sudanese have fled to safety.
 
http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-107/en/ http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/famine-sudan-ipc-famine-review-committee-confirms-famine-conditions-parts-north-darfur http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1152871 http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1152736 http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/famine-confirmed-sudans-north-darfur-confirming-un-agencies-worst-fears http://www.wfp.org/stories/famine-sudan-wfp-calls-unfettered-access-hunger-hotspots-save-lives http://fews.net/famine-ipc-phase-5-confirmed-sudans-zamzam-idp-camp-al-fasher http://fews.net/east-africa/sudan/alert/august-2024 http://www.rescue.org/press-release/one-sudans-largest-idp-camps-facing-famine-conditions-irc-calls-immediate-ceasefire http://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2024/sudan-crisis-people-are-dying-of-hunger/ http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/grave-malnutrition-emergency-central-south-darfur http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/un-says-famine-conditions-already-present-in-sudan/
 
http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-104/en/ http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151546 http://www.wfp.org/news/sudan-facing-unprecedented-hunger-catastrophe-say-un-agency-chiefs http://www.nrc.no/resources/statements/failure-of-the-international-community-could-leave-millions-at-risk-of-famine-in-sudan http://www.unicef.org/sudan/topics/sudan http://www.savethechildren.net/news/child-hunger-sudan-almost-doubles-six-months-three-every-four-children-affected http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/mercy-corps-sudan-ingo-forum-sudan http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/story/sudan-is-experiencing-its-worst-hunger-levels-on-record-with-800000-people-facing-the-threat-of-famine
 
http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudans-children-trapped-critical-malnutrition-crisis-warn-un-agencies http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/sudans-children-trapped-critical-malnutrition-crisis-warn-un-agencies http://www.unocha.org/news/ocha-urges-security-council-act-sudan-humanitarian-crisis http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151151 http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-s-grandi-warns-sudan-carnage-will-force-millions-more-flee http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-ingo-forum-calls-end-bloodshed-el-fasher http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-no-time-lose-famine-stalks-millions-sudan-amid http://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/famine-conditions-in-parts-of-sudan--fao-urges-at-scale-life-saving-assistance-to-boost-local-food-production/en http://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/insights/news-insights/news-detail/new-issues-paper--conflict-induced-acute-food-crises--potential-policy-responses-in-light-of-current-emergencies/en
 
17 Oct. 2024
 
Gaza Strip: Risk of Famine persists amidst recent surge in hostilities. (IPC)
 
One year into the conflict, the risk of Famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip. Given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialize.
 
Violence has displaced nearly 2 million people, decimated livelihoods, crippled food systems, destroyed 70 percent of crop fields, severely restricted humanitarian operations and resulted in the collapse of health services and water, sanitation and hygiene systems.
 
Between November 2024 and April 2025, almost 2 million people, more than 90 percent of the population, are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), including 876,000 people (41 percent) in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). The population facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5) is expected to nearly triple and reach 345,000 people (16 percent).
 
An estimated 60,000 cases of acute malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months, are expected to occur between September 2024 and August 2025. Catastrophic acute food insecurity and concerning acute malnutrition levels will continue to prevail if the conflict continues, and humanitarian operations are restricted.
 
http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-114/en/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1157985/ http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-stop-assault-palestinians-gaza-and-those-trying http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/statement-unicef-deputy-executive-director-humanitarian-action-and-supply-operations http://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-our-effort-save-lives-survivors-gaza-breaking-point http://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-calls-international-community-break-cycle-violence-gaza
 
http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-105/en/ http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/children-gaza-need-lifesaving-support http://www.savethechildren.net/news/devastating-new-figures-reveal-gaza-s-child-hunger-catastrophe http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/all-of-gaza-now-at-risk-of-famine/ http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/conflict-induced-hunger-gaza-how-months-unrelenting-violence-and-severe-humanitarian-access-restrictions-have-produced-catastrophic-food-insecurity-june-2024
 
Oct. 2024
 
Armed violence, soaring food prices leave 25.6 million people in high levels of acute food insecurity in DRC. (FAO)
 
Armed violence and conflict continue to affect the livelihoods of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This, combined with soaring food prices and the prolonged effects of various epidemics have left approximately 25.6 million in high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse).
 
Between July to December 2024, some 3.1 million people are facing critical levels of food insecurity – IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) – characterized by large food gaps and high levels of acute malnutrition. Another 19 percent (22.4 million people) are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 (Crisis).
 
The affected populations are spread throughout the country, however, the most affected populations are concentrated in the provinces of North Kivu, Ituri, South Kivu and Tanganyika, Maindombe – as well as populations affected by natural disasters and unemployment.
 
The analysis projected for January to June 2025 indicates a situation where food insecurity rates are expected to be almost identical to those of the current situation, with 25.5 million people (22 percent of the population analysed) projected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phases 3 or above), including around 3.3 million people who are projected to face critical levels of acute food insecurity (Phase 4) and 22.2 million people who will likely be in Phase 3.
 
“The food security situation remains critical for millions of people in the DRC,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of FAO's Office of Emergencies and Resilience. “Armed violence and competition for resources have caused massive damage on rural livelihoods and infrastructure, disrupting essential agricultural production.
 
Given the scale of this crisis, even a slight shock - such as rising food prices or a poor harvest - could push even more people to the brink. To reverse these grim trends, it is essential to end hostilities, restore local food production and support rural families to improve their food security and nutrition.”
 
http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-113/en/


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Social protection and poverty reduction
by Stephen Devereux, Juan Gonzalo Jaramillo Mejia
Institute of Development Studies, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors
 
June 2025
 
Social protection is increasingly recognised as our greatest tool in the fight against poverty, UN poverty expert. (OHCHR)
 
Unprecedented cuts to global aid and intensifying attacks on multilateralism are undermining decades of progress in the fight against poverty, the UN’s poverty expert warned today.
 
“As countries turn their backs on international cooperation, we are witnessing a terrifying domino effect of cuts to global aid, with one country after the next announcing major reductions to their aid budgets,” said Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
 
In his new report to the UN Human Rights Council, De Schutter urged governments attending next week’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville, Spain (30 June – 3 July), to prioritise financing social protection through wealth taxes, ‘solidarity levies’ and other innovative financing tools to prevent further backsliding.
 
“The world order that emerged from the horrors of the Second World War has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. In just a few short months, that progress has begun to wildly unravel,” the Special Rapporteur said.
 
“It is a sad reflection of our times that money once earmarked for life-saving development programmes are now being redirected to defence and military spending.”
 
Official development assistance fell in 2024 for the first time in six years, with predictions estimating a drop of almost 20% for 2025. In his report, the expert detailed how these cuts are hampering humanitarian assistance and deepening poverty, leaving vulnerable populations increasingly exposed to the intensifying climate crisis.
 
“It is a perfect storm: cuts to global aid as the climate crisis ramps up and wipes out people’s entire livelihoods and assets in mere minutes,” De Schutter said.
 
The Special Rapporteur called on governments meeting at FFD4 to adopt alternative financing mechanisms, including international tax reform and ‘solidarity levies’ on sectors such as transport and finance, managed through a Global Fund for Social Protection, to ensure long-term and predictable funding of social protection in the Global South.
 
“It is in countries that are least responsible for climate change that people have the worst access to social protection systems that could shield them from its impacts,” the expert said. “Over 90% of people in the world’s poorest countries lack any form of social protection whatsoever, leaving them entirely unprotected.”
 
The expert pointed to calculations he presented in advance of FFD4 demonstrating how the international community could raise US$759.6 billion a year — more than twice the amount required to provide the world’s 26 lowest-income countries with the essential healthcare and basic income security that would safeguard people in poverty from the impacts of climate change.
 
“Social protection is increasingly recognised as our greatest tool in the fight against poverty – and is proving just as powerful in protecting people in poverty from the climate disasters that are becoming part of their daily lives,” he said.
 
“By championing the financing of social protection, world leaders meeting at FFD4 would be taking a powerful stand against today’s deplorable attempts to upend the international order, ignore the climate crisis and abandon the world’s poorest people,” De Schutter said.
 
http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/attacks-world-order-and-global-aid-derailing-decades-progress-poverty-warns http://www.srpoverty.org/2025/03/12/joint-call-with-ituc-for-a-global-fund-for-social-protection-and-strengthened-international-commitments-at-ffd4/ http://www.srpoverty.org/2025/02/11/joint-statement-a-call-for-action-on-financing-social-protection/ http://www.srpoverty.org/2025/01/17/financing-social-protection-floors-contribution-of-the-special-rapporteur-to-ffd4/
 
Social protection and poverty reduction, by Stephen Devereux, Juan Gonzalo Jaramillo Mejia. (Institute of Development Studies)
 
Despite social protection’s significant advances in recent years, its potential to contribute to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has not been fully exploited.
 
This can be seen by considering three empirical facts discussed here first, and followed by analysis of how social protection policies and resources can more effectively reduce poverty and hunger.
 
First, progress towards SDG2 (zero hunger) is alarmingly off–track. The global prevalence of undernourishment fell from 12.2 percent in 2005 to 7.3 percent in 2014, but then increased to 9.6 percent in 2022 – reversing much of the gains. The number of undernourished people fell from 798 million in 2005 to 539 million in 2014, but rose to 763 million in 2021 – close to the total in 2005. Many factors explain this reversal of progress. These include rising costs of nutritious diets, Covid-19, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis throughout much of the world.
 
Second, progress towards SDG1 (halving poverty) is also off–track, but less critically so. Globally, extreme poverty (<$2.15/day) was falling until Covid-19 to fall to 6.8 percent in 2030, down from 10.8 percent in 2015.
 
Third, eradicating poverty is not the same as eradicating hunger. Evidence shows that reductions in poverty are not being translated into reductions in food insecurity. It follows that achieving SDG1 will not automatically achieve SDG2. Additional food security and nutrition interventions are needed. This is because income security is necessary but not sufficient for food security.
 
This is a crucial point, because hunger and malnutrition are not only caused by poverty; they also cause poverty – through negative impacts on human capital, health, labour productivity and socio-political stability.
 
One key solution to reverse rising food insecurity is to intensify public investments in food security and nutrition-sensitive social protection. This requires paying attention to all five dimensions of social protection – not just coverage and adequacy, but also comprehensiveness, quality and responsiveness, through both a recognition of nutritional risks across the lifecycle and the establishment of intersectoral linkages to tackle them.
 
Social protection and poverty reduction
 
Social protection has great power to reduce poverty. At national level, this can be seen simply by considering the relationship between poverty prevalence and government spending on social protection as a percentage of GDP. In sub-Saharan Africa, poverty often exceeds 60 percent, but social protection spending rarely reaches five percent. In Western Europe, where poverty rates are low, spending on social protection averages 20 percent or more. Without social welfare and social insurance, poverty in Europe would be considerably higher.
 
Social protection also contributes to all six pillars of food security. Food availability is enhanced by spending of cash transfers on agricultural production, input subsidies, and home-grown school feeding where farmers are contracted to supply food items to local schools.
 
Food access is supported directly with food transfers or vouchers, and indirectly when cash transfers are used to purchase food. Food access is stabilised when shock-responsive social protection increases either the number of beneficiaries to include the newly food insecure or the value of transfers, following a price shock or food crisis.
 
Food utilisation, which relates to the quality of diets, can be enhanced through fresh food vouchers that are exchanged for vegetables and fruit. Social protection programmes also boost agency by enhancing people’s purchasing power, thereby broadening their food choices.
 
Additionally, these programmes bolster household and individual resilience and their risk management strategies. This prevents the adoption of negative coping mechanisms, which protects natural resources against depletion and supports environmental sustainability.
 
Looked at another way, social protection generates distinct yet mutually reinforcing outcomes in several dimensions: economic (spending and investment, income and employment multipliers, local economic development); social (social cohesion, human capital formation through conditional cash transfers and school feeding programmes), and structural (transformative effects of a rights-based approach that addresses intersecting inequalities, including gender inequities and economic and social injustice).
 
Consider, for example, the economic and social returns to school feeding. A review covering 190 million children across 14 countries found that every dollar invested in school feeding generates $0.6 of social protection (the transfer value of the food), $2 to agriculture, $2 to health and nutrition, and $14 to education, as well as unquantifiable benefits in terms of reduced gender gaps in education access.
 
Leaving no country behind
 
Social protection must leave no country behind. This requires focusing on countries most in need: Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCAS). These countries are highly vulnerable to ‘polycrisis’: climate change, conflicts, epidemics, inequalities, food crises, and a range of economic, geopolitical, societal and technological risks.
 
These countries are also those that have the least protection against poverty and shocks. Among the 39 countries where an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis has recently found critical or emergency levels of acute food insecurity, 32 are classified as low-income and 26 are least developed countries (LDCs).
 
In low-income countries, only eight percent of the vulnerable population is covered by social protection, compared to 63 percent in high-income countries and a global average of 29 percent. Expanding the coverage, adequacy, comprehensiveness, quality and responsiveness of social protection in these countries will certainly accelerate progress towards both SDG1 and SDG2.
 
http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/a-new-era-for-social-protection/
 
Aug. 2024
 
Universal social protection is the key to overcoming poverty and inequality
 
The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) participated in the consultations for the UN Summit of the Future taking place on 22-23 September.
 
My name is Markus Kaltenborn, I am speaking on behalf of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), which comprises more than 130 Non Government Organisations and labour organisations worldwide.
 
Our aim is to support long-term strategies for overcoming extreme poverty and for combating huge social inequalities. In our view, social protection is a key instrument for achieving these goals.
 
Social protection instruments are social benefits such as cash transfers, which for example benefit families and the elderly, but also social insurance schemes such as public health insurance or pension schemes.
 
Although social protection is a human right, more than half of the global population has no access to it. On the African continent only 18% of the population are effectively covered by at least one of the basic social protection guarantees.
 
This is a big problem, mainly because adequate social protection is a prerequisite for the provision of many other important basic needs. Without adequate social protection, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve several goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
 
In particular, the fight against poverty and the reduction of inequalities within and between societies, but also adequate food supply and health care, regular school attendance for children and the elimination of gender discrimination are goals that are linked to Social Protection.
 
Some countries have succeeded in generating ade­quate domestic resources to ensure rights-based and sustainably financed social protection systems for the entire population.
 
Other countries, however, do not yet have sufficient financial resources to fully guarantee their population this protection.
 
It is therefore essential and urgent that the international community supports the system building, rollout and the financing of social protection floors worldwide.
 
Financial and technical support can, and must be, significantly expanded, otherwise it will not be possible in many parts of the world to achieve some of the key objectives of the 2030 Agenda.
 
One of our main aims is therefore a well-coordinated global mechanism for the financing of social protection systems, mainly in low-income countries. We hope that, one day, the global community will be able to set up A Global Fund for Social Protection.
 
In the Draft of the Pact for the Future social protection is mentioned – this is, of course, very good. We hope that this will lead to a more prominent role for this important topic in the future, especially at next year's World Summit for Social Development.
 
What is not so good, however, is the fact that, unlike in the first version of the draft, it is not emphasized any more that there is a need for universal social protection. Universality is extremely important, because all people, especially the most vulnerable groups, should have access to social protection systems. This should not remain a privilege of individual groups.
 
Universal social protection is the key to overcoming poverty and inequality. Social security is a human right, and social protection floors underpin successful poverty elimination strategies.
 
Eliminating poverty and the reduction of inequalities within and between societies, adequate food supply and health care, ensuring regular school attendance for children especially girls and the elimination of discrimination against women of all ages and gender inequities related to unpaid care work require the urgent implementation.
 
Social protection must not remain a privilege of the few linked to formal employment but must be enjoyed by all, first and foremost the chronically poor and those who are most hard to reach.
 
* The Summit of the Future that will take place on 22-23 September 2024 is a crucial opportunity to forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.
 
http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2024/12/written-statement-of-the-gcspf-at-the-commission-for-social-development-63rd-session http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2024/07/statement-on-the-importance-of-universal-social-protection-for-the-pact-of-the-future http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2023/12/the-gcspf-written-contribution-to-the-summit-of-the-future/ http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/campaigns/social-security-for-all-key-pillar-for-new-eco-social-contract/resources/
 
http://socialprotection.org/discover/publications/report-way-forward-resilience-preventing-hunger-and-poverty-rising-result http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/14-billion-children-globally-missing-out-basic-social-protection-according-latest http://soundcloud.com/user-294399009/social-security-a-human-rights-approach http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/publications/good-practice-in-disability-inclusive-social-security-2/ http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/blog/9-ways-social-protection-can-address-gender-based-violence/


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