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	Everyone has the right to be treated with Dignity by OHCHR, International Movement ATD Fourth World   Nov. 2022   Banning discrimination on grounds of socioeconomic disadvantage, report by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights   “Povertyism” – negative attitudes and behaviours towards people living in poverty – is as pervasive, toxic and harmful as racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and should be treated as such, according to a new report published by the UN expert on poverty.   “People are stereotyped and discriminated against purely because they are poor. This is frankly sickening and a stain on our society,” UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, told the UN General Assembly as it met for its 77th session in New York.   “As the global rise in energy and food prices throws millions more into poverty, they must be protected not just from the horrors of poverty, but also from the humiliation and exclusion caused by the scourge of povertyism,” De Schutter said.   The Special Rapporteur called on governments to urgently review their anti-discrimination laws, as well as consider “pro-poor” affirmative action, to ensure povertyism is wiped out.   “The dangerously misplaced belief that people living in poverty are to blame for their condition, and therefore somehow socially inferior, has a firm grip on society and will not disappear on its own,” De Schutter said.   “It is high time the law intervened to ban discrimination on grounds of socio-economic status, as many countries have already done with race, sex, age or disability.”   The report finds that povertyism has become firmly entrenched in public and private institutions, largely because decision-making positions tend to be held by those from higher-income backgrounds, skewing the system against people in poverty.   It details cases where children from low-income families have been refused access to certain schools, employers have judged CVs more harshly when the address suggests the person lives in poverty, and landlords have refused to rent apartments to tenants receiving social benefits. Even judges have been found to hand out harsher sentences based on anti-poor stereotypes.   Negative stereotyping against those on low incomes is also rife in social services, where people applying for social benefits have reported being treated with suspicion and disdain. Millions of dollars in benefits are going unclaimed as a result, with potential beneficiaries preferring to avoid the humiliation of applying. This is a major reason for the non-take-up of rights which is severely weakening the world’s social protection programmes, the report said.   “Poverty will never be eradicated while povertyism is allowed to fester, restricting access to education, housing, employment and social benefits to those who need them the most,” De Schutter said.   “The world is finally waking up to the injustices of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and putting laws in place to stop them from destroying people’s lives,” the UN expert said. “Povertyism is an affront to human rights, has no place in this world and must be treated just as seriously.”   http://www.srpoverty.org/2022/10/28/press-release-ban-povertyism-in-the-same-way-as-racism-and-sexism-un-expert/ http://www.srpoverty.org/2022/10/25/presentation-to-the-un-general-assembly-28-october-2022/   Oct. 2022   Everyone has the right to be treated with Dignity - International Movement ATD Fourth World   This year marks the 35th anniversary of the World Day for Overcoming Poverty, which was first observed in Paris on October 17, 1987 when thousands of people came together to defend the dignity and human rights of people living in poverty.   Working with ATD Fourth World, the United Nations consulted people with lived experience of poverty, as well as their allies and friends around the world, to select the theme for this year’s October 17 observance: “Dignity for All in Practice.”   This theme recognizes and highlights that all people everywhere have the right to be treated with dignity — that, as human beings, we are entitled to respect and recognition from one another.   Yet, despite the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, millions of people today, especially people living in poverty, still suffer unacceptable indignities and human rights violations in their daily lives.   Their human dignity is denied and violated when they are forced to live in extreme poverty, when they must endure deprivations in so many aspects of their lives, and when they suffer social exclusion, discrimination, stigmatisation, and shame.   "When human dignity is denied, it weakens and threatens the very foundation of human rights itself".   ATD founder Joseph Wresinski observed unerringly that: “The ultimate goal of human rights is the protection of human dignity. It follows that implementing these rights will lead to all people living in freedom, justice, and peace. Only if they are taken as a whole can these rights guarantee human dignity. This is why all human rights must be protected at the same time.”   While Governments have the primary responsibility to defend and protect human rights, we have seen that government policies alone have not been able to fully protect and defend the human rights of all their citizens.   "What is required is for everyone to come together in solidarity to ensure that human dignity and rights are respected and protected".   Only by acting together can we ever hope to change our current economic and social systems — based largely on competition and division — that have created and perpetuated extreme poverty and social division in a world of plenty and encouraged the wanton exploitation of our fragile planet that has driven us to the brink of a global climate disaster.   Only when we act together to end poverty and social injustice can we ever hope to achieve lasting peace and learn to live in harmony with our planet. This is why we come together in solidarity on October 17.   * Donald Lee, President, International Movement ATD Fourth World   http://www.atd-fourthworld.org/the-right-to-be-treated-with-dignity/ http://www.srpoverty.org/2022/10/17/press-release-increase-benefits-and-wages-in-line-with-inflation-or-lives-will-be-lost-un-poverty-expert/ Visit the related web page
	With 45 million people on the brink of famine, NGOs call on world leaders to take urgent action by 200+ Non Government Organisations   20 Sep. 2022   With one person estimated to be dying of hunger every four seconds, 238 local and international non-governmental organisations are calling on leaders gathering at the 77th UN General Assembly to take decisive action to end the spiralling global hunger crisis.   Organisations from 75 countries have signed an open letter expressing outrage at skyrocketing hunger levels and recommendations for action. A staggering 345 million people are now experiencing acute hunger, a number that has more than doubled since 2019.   Despite promises from world leaders to never allow famine again in the 21st century, famine is once more imminent in Somalia. Around the world, 50 million people are on the brink of starvation in 45 countries.   Dear UN Member States,   "No water, no food, a hopeless life. Above all, my children are starving. They are on the verge of death. Unless they get some food, I'm afraid they will die." - Sumaya, 32, mother of four, IDP camp in the Somali Region, Ethiopia   We, the undersigned 238 non-governmental organizations working with the most vulnerable communities and witnessing the catastrophic effects of the unprecedented global food crisis unfolding, urgently request that you act immediately to prevent more unnecessary suffering.   From Somalia to Haiti, South Sudan to Yemen, Afghanistan to Nigeria, people’s lives in the most fragile contexts are being devastated by a global food crisis, fueled by a deadly mix of conflict, climate change, rising costs and economic crises, exacerbated by COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict.   Fifty million people are now just one step away from starvation. Over 345 million more are bowing under the crushing weight of hunger, struggling to feed their families and at risk of death.   Behind these statistics are real people and lack of action has horrific, real life and death consequences. For the woman who fled her country to escape the violence of war and now has her food ration halved or suspended completely. For the hungry child forced to drop out of school to work so their family can eat. For the young girl forced into marriage, where she faces sexual exploitation and abuse. And for the caregiver who makes the long journey to seek treatment for a severely malnourished toddler only to find the health clinic is closed due to funding shortages.   The international community and national governments are failing to meet their duty and have prioritised political and economic interests over the wellbeing of the world’s most vulnerable children, families and communities. While political leaders have made many promises, in the cities, towns, villages, and refugee and internal displacement camps where millions of lives hang in the balance, far too little has changed.   In a world of plenty, leaving people to starve is a policy choice. We call on you as world leaders to take urgent action to stem this crisis and prevent future ones.   You must immediately deliver the funding needed to reach 50 million people on the edge of starvation to save lives NOW. You must also support vulnerable countries and communities to build resilience NOW.   And you must take action to anticipate, prevent and prepare for subsequent crises to secure the future, including by delivering much needed climate finance, reallocated Special Drawing Rights, and meaningful debt relief.   We repeatedly miss the opportunity to prevent hunger and hardship from happening in the first place by not responding quickly enough to early warnings to save lives, build resilience, and make the smart investments needed to sustainably address hunger crises in the long term.   If the pandemic taught us anything it is that prevention is more humane and much less expensive than waiting to respond. The lack of political will and institutional failure to act quickly before the worst-case hits means people are being left to lurch from crisis to crisis. People are not starving; they are being starved.   Accompanying this letter, we outline a set of specific recommendations to help address the current hunger crisis and prevent future crises, endorsed by NGOs across the world.   We have already lost far too much time – the families we work with every day need action NOW.   The lives of millions of girls, boys, women, and men depend on the bold and courageous actions you, the United Nations Member States, take - or fail to take – when you gather at the UN General Assembly in the coming weeks.   We must not let people starve to death on our watch. There is no place for famine in the 21st century.   http://reliefweb.int/report/world/humanitarian-organisations-estimate-one-person-dying-hunger-every-four-seconds   July 2022   Inter Action: NGO Call to Action: Global Food Security Crisis   Right now, 49 million people are at risk of falling into famine. In the next three months, life-threatening hunger is likely to expand for families in 20 hot spots around the world.   The current devastating levels of hunger are expected to persist for years to come. Projections estimate that 670 million people will still face hunger in 2030.   As U.S.-based humanitarian organizations working to respond to these unprecedented levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, we urgently call for decisive action by the Administration and Congress to mitigate the immediate loss of life and tackle the systemic challenges we face. Building resilience has never been more important.   Hunger is rising around the world due to the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, conflict, economic crises, and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. For many communities, especially those already marginalized, the compounding shocks have eroded the resilience of their food systems and they are reaching their breaking point.   The intensity and persistence of the food crisis are also straining local responders and humanitarian actors and forcing painful decisions about where to pull away much-needed aid to account for new hunger hot spots.   Without urgent action, improved access to communities in need, and increased resources for humanitarian needs and long-term development programs, families—particularly children—will continue to face devastating hunger. The world will face the consequences if we do not act: needless suffering and death, unrest, and displacement.   More work is needed to ensure we can prevent future escalations of hunger. This work will require robust investments in development programs that are proven to help prevent communities from falling into crisis and help them recover from shocks.   We urge the Administration to continue to engage all actors and consult with NGOs as the response continues. This long-term effort will require close collaboration with locally-led organizations.   The world knows too well the consequences of unmet needs and failure to take timely action in the face of severe hunger and malnutrition. This is a critical moment for the global community to rise to the current food security challenge before we see even more devastating and preventable loss of life. The time for action is now.   http://www.wfp.org/news/food-crisis-tightens-its-grip-19-hunger-hotspots-famine-looms-horn-africa-new-report http://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-june-september-2022 http://press.un.org/en/2022/sgsm21288.doc.htm http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc0639en   May 2022   We need solutions now to address global food insecurity and prevent future food crises, joint statement by Humanitarian Agencies   This week, Government representatives will hold meetings at the United Nations focused on the global hunger crisis. The overarching aim of these events is to catalyze action on global food security and resilience, focusing on the critical links between conflict and hunger, including the impacts of the war in Ukraine.   As humanitarian and development organizations working around the world to prevent and respond to unprecedented levels of food insecurity and the imminent threat of famine we face today, we welcome the focus on this urgent crisis. We urge governments to seize this opportunity to make concrete and substantial commitments to address the needs of people experiencing hunger.   Global food security has steadily worsened over the past several years. According to the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises, nearly 193 million people experienced crisis level or worse food insecurity in 2021, an increase of almost 40 million over the previous record in 2020. The negative food security outlook is projected to continue or worsen this year, and the global food systems impact of the crisis in Ukraine will only contribute to further decline.   The global hunger crisis is felt most by vulnerable and marginalized people with limited capacity to absorb additional shocks. This includes women and girls who, despite the key role they play in producing and preparing food, often eat last and least during times of acute food insecurity, are at higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence and various forms of exploitation and abuse, and are frequently excluded from conversations about how to address food insecurity.   Food insecurity and malnutrition also has a devastating impact on children, exposing them to immediate and life-long cognitive and developmental impacts, weakening their immune system, and leading to negative household coping strategies like child labor, withdrawal of children from school, and gender-based violence, including child marriage and other forms of violence against children.   The ongoing conflict in Ukraine and resulting disruption to food, fuel, and fertilizer markets has exacerbated an existing food crisis driven by conflict, climatic shocks, COVID-19, and economic pressures, particularly in contexts already experiencing humanitarian crises.   In order to pull people back from the brink of starvation, create sustainable food systems, and prevent future food crises, we need comprehensive solutions that address the myriad drivers and impacts of food insecurity.   Global humanitarian funding to prevent and respond to food insecurity is critical, and the international community must see this moment as a tipping point to avert catastrophe.   However, emergency aid alone is not enough to end this crisis. Donors must get better at leveraging longer-term funding mechanisms to get ahead of rising global hunger levels and promote resilience.   States must also engage in concerted diplomacy and cooperation to put forward rights-based trade, economic, climate, food systems, and social protection policies, and avoid restrictive trade measures that threaten to plunge millions more people into acute food insecurity.   In support of this, state, donor, multilateral, and other stakeholders seeking to address global food security, including conflict-induced hunger, should take the following concrete steps:   First, prioritize inclusive diplomacy to address the root causes of food insecurity and support policy measures that protect poor and vulnerable people’s ability to access food and livelihoods.   This includes keeping ports and trade flows open, mitigating balance of payment pressures, investing in social protection and safety nets, and supporting domestic food production and equitable distribution of land which empowers small scale producers, including women.   It also requires upholding the protection of civilians and civilian objects during conflict and addressing the effects of climate change on food security by delivering on commitments to finance climate action from the Paris Agreement and operationalize the Santiago Network.   Second, protect and increase funding to respond to the short, medium, and long-term impacts of the food security crisis. Donors should increase assistance toward global humanitarian appeals, maintain Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments, and refrain from diverting aid from pre-existing crises to respond to new emergencies, including the Ukraine crisis and domestic refugee responses. Efforts should be made to direct aid to local organizations, including women-led organizations, that are already responding to hunger in their communities.   Additionally, donors should scale up predictable, multi-year funding for humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding programs to strengthen resilience, ensuring that funding and programs are cohesive, coordinated, and gender transformative.   Third, tailor food assistance modalities – including cash, vouchers, in-kind food assistance, and livelihoods and agricultural support – to each context.   While the overall goal of assistance is to immediately save lives, careful consideration of aid modalities can help to increase resilience to global market disruptions.   Donors should recognize that cash and vouchers can reach hungry people in crisis more quickly than commodity support in the short-term. Increasing support to small-scale farmers and sustainable agriculture practices, such as agroecology and renewable energy for agricultural production, is critical to increase livelihoods and help farmers cope with rising fuel prices and reduced access to fertilizers and other inputs.   Finally, the Security Council must address conflict-induced hunger by fully implementing UNSC Resolutions 2417 (2018) and 2573 (2021).   Monitoring and reporting on the risk of famine and food insecurity in countries with armed conflict should be more systematic, and swift follow-up action must be taken to hold perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law accountable.   Denial of access to deliver humanitarian assistance, the use of hunger as a weapon of war, and acts of violence that threaten or harm civilians or destroy critical civilian infrastructure, whether intentional or not, cannot be tolerated.   Member States, particularly donors, must strengthen their humanitarian diplomacy to prevent these violations of international humanitarian law and respond to such incidents when they occur.   We hope these critical meetings serve as a first step in a sustained global effort to address the drivers and humanitarian impact of the global hunger crisis. It is essential that the goodwill and commitments put forward are translated into immediate and sustained action.   The world cannot wait for a declaration of famine to act. By then, it will be too late. We urge the international community to put the full force of resources, diplomacy, and policy action behind preventing large-scale loss of life due to hunger and promoting lasting food security for millions of people around the globe.   * Joint statement: Action Against Hunger USA, Adventist Development and Relief Agency International, CARE, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, ChildFund Alliance, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Danish Refugee Council, Global Communities, Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion, Helping Hand for Relief and Development, IMPACT Initiatives, InterAction, International Rescue Committee, INTERSOS, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian People's Aid, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, People in Need, Plan International, Polish Humanitarian Action - Polska Akcja Humanitarna, Refugees International, Save the Children, Solidarités International, Welthungerhilfe, Women for Women International, Women's Refugee Commission, World Vision.   http://www.care.org/news-and-stories/press-releases/we-need-solutions-now-to-address-global-food-insecurity-and-prevent-future-food-crises/ http://www.nrc.no/news/2022/may/joint-ngo-statement-on-global-food-security-and-conflict-induced-hunger http://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-report-food-crises-2022 http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/events/grfc-2022/en/ http://www.wfp.org/publications/unprecedented-needs-threaten-hunger-catastrophe-april-2022 http://static.hungermapdata.org/insight-reports/latest/global-summary.pdf http://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/news-archive/en/ http://ipes-food.org/pages/foodpricecrisis http://www.fian.org/en/press-release/article/ukraine-war-highlights-growing-global-food-crises-and-need-for-new-world-food-security-strategy-2951 http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-food   Jan. 2022   Dear world leaders,   It is over six months since the UN warned that famine risk is soaring globally. We – a group of 120 NGOs from around the world – are at a loss that since then the crisis has only worsened. There has been a 370% rise in people experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger since April and now a staggering 45 million people are at extreme risk – on the brink of famine. These numbers do not tell the whole story. Behind them are people suffering immensely from a crisis that we can prevent. What will it take for this situation to change?   The promises of the G7’s Famine Prevention Compact issued in May have not yet been met. It is clear that, since then, the situation has only deteriorated. Grand gestures do not fill empty stomachs. As the UN Secretary General has recently alerted, less than half the funding needed to stave off famine in six countries of highest concern (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Southern Madagascar, north-east Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen) has been received to date. Meanwhile, some Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) are less than 20% funded.   The number of people at risk, and associated costs, are escalating, rising from $6.6bn needed to support 41 million people at risk of famine a few months ago, to $7bn needed to feed the 45 million people at risk across 43 countries, now. As basic food needs go unmet, humanitarian crises are escalating.   One in 33 people worldwide are now in need of humanitarian assistance and one in ten people has malnutrition. The gap between needs and humanitarian funding is stark in some of the most vulnerable regions.   Conflict, the climate crisis, economic shocks and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are set to push more people into crisis level hunger and malnutrition in 2022. Conflict in particular is escalating globally, forcing families to flee their homes and lose their livelihoods.   The hunger and malnutrition this is causing disproportionately affects women and girls putting them at increased risk of extreme hunger and gender-based violence.   In conflict settings, supporting peacebuilding and conflict prevention is also crucial. Further, it is time that political commitments made to uphold international law, safeguard people’s human rights and secure access to aid are acted upon. All parties to a conflict must facilitate humanitarian access, protect civilians and desist from using starvation as a method of warfare.   Obstacles, such as sanctions and access denial, to humanitarian action are severely compounding a crisis that cannot be healed with money alone.   We have watched the number of people in need rise in 2021. We call on World Leaders to take the urgent action desperately needed now to reverse this trend in 2022.   http://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/press-releases/famine-action-letter Visit the related web page
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