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	‘People aren't starving, they are being starved’ by Peyvand Khorsandi International Council of Voluntary Agencies, agencies   May 2021   Humanitarian agencies issue joint call for funds to avert famine   International Council of Voluntary Agencies rallies Oxfam, Save the Children and 258 other organizations after World Food Programme's warning on increasing levels of hunger.   Humanitarian agencies around the world have joined forces to warn that rising hunger levels are going to lead to famines unless urgent action is taken.   Oxfam, Save the Children and the International Red Cross are among 260 signatories to an open letter on famine prevention led by the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).   The letter, published in The Guardian today, has warned “people are not starving, they are being starved” in countries such as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti and Zimbabwe.   “Girls and boys, men and women” are being “starved by conflict and violence ... by inequality, by the impacts of climate change, by the loss of land, jobs or prospects, by a fight against COVID-19 that has left them even further behind.”   It comes as the WFP marks a year since urged the UN Security Council to act fast over “famines of biblical proportions”.   “It is human actions that are driving famine and hunger and it is our actions that can stop the worst impacts,” the letter stated.   Addressing world leaders as the “main duty-bearers”, it called for the immediate injection of $5.5bn for food assistance to reach more than “34 million people around the globe who are a step away from famine.”   It added: “We plead with you to enhance your efforts and work with all parties to end conflict and violence in all its forms.”   The UN’s call for a global ceasefire “must be immediately heeded,” it went on. “Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach communities without barriers or impediments so we can urgently support those most in need.   “We urge you to invest in alleviating poverty and hunger, in giving people the tools they need to build more resilient futures for themselves, sustainably adapt to climate change and guard against the shocks of COVID-19. This will help to prevent future conflict and displacement. This will prevent future hunger and famines.”   Geeta Bandiphillips, Head of Advocacy at the WFP, said: “The letter sounds the alarm about the drastically increased levels of hunger and the humanitarian funding gap we are facing today.   She added the initiative is “inspired by the ‘Call for Action to Avert Famine’ issued by WFP and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organizations in March, highlighting the plight of up to 270 million people who were acutely food insecure or at high risk at the start of the year.”   Bandiphillips said: “34 million people are teetering on the very edge of famine, with the slightest shock set to push them to starvation in the absence of urgent, immediate life-saving action.”   WFP and FAO’s “bilateral donors must recommit to scaling-up aid to save lives,” she added.   The letter urges action to end conflicts and calls on all parties to ensure unhindered humanitarian access.   ICVA is a global network of non-governmental organisations whose mission is to make humanitarian action more principled and effective by working collectively and independently to influence policy and practice.   In pursuing the letter, the organization is “elevating the issue of imminent famines on the global agenda to secure political will for mitigation and prevention,” said Bandiphillips.   She added that “collective advocacy around famine prevention and mitigation has strongly resonated” with other humanitarian organizations — it is rare to get this level of support for any cause.”   Amb. Ahmed Shehu, Regional Coordinator for the Civil Society Network of Lake Chad Basin, a signatory to the letter, said: “The situation here is really dire — “70 percent of people in this region are farmers but they can’t access their land because of violence, so they can’t produce food. These farmers have been providing food for thousands for years – now they have become beggars themselves.   “Food production is lost, so jobs are lost, so income is lost, so people cannot buy the food. Then, we as aid workers cannot safely even get to people to help them. Some of our members risked the journey to reach starving communities and were abducted – we don’t know where they are. This has a huge impact on those of us desperate to help.”   Bandiphillips said: “This open letter gave us a chance to put our individual agency agendas aside and collectively campaign and advocate for a bigger cause. That is, collective inaction will increase the likelihood of multiple famines in 2021, putting more than 34 million people at risk of starvation.”   David Miliband, CEO and President of the International Rescue Committee, said: “The worsening rate of global hunger is horrifying to witness. Every day we are seeing the human cost of hunger play out in the countries where we work. World leaders must act now to prevent unprecedented levels of suffering, through increased funding and diplomatic efforts to end conflict and improve humanitarian access.”   CARE International Secretary General, Sofía Sprechmann Sineiro said: “Whether Yemen, Syria or the DRC, funding to respond to the hunger crisis is not materializing. Yet trillions are invested in rescue packages for corporates all over the world. Donors must step up. It is not a matter of affordability; it is a matter of political will.”   The letter concluded: “There is no place for famine and starvation in the 21st century. History will judge us all by the actions we take today.”   Other signatories to the letter included the International Red Cross and Islamic Relief.   http://www.wfp.org/stories/people-are-not-starving-they-are-being-starved-humanitarian-bodies-issue-joint-call-famine http://www.icvanetwork.org/OpenLetterFaminePrevention http://www.savethechildren.net/news/more-57-million-children-under-five-brink-starvation-across-world Visit the related web page
	Starvation is never inevitable - we must act to prevent famine by Dominic MacSorley Concern Worldwide   Jan. 2021   As news of famine emerges in several countries, Concern Worldwide Chief Executive Dominic MacSorley calls for immediate action to avoid "catastrophic" consequences for the world's most vulnerable.   Starvation is never inevitable. This is a truth that strikes at the core the Irish experience, but we now know that the first famines of the COVID-19 era are already taking place.   In a joint statement last month, three UN agencies, including the World Food Programme, warned that 6.5 million people in South Sudan were facing severe food insecurity as a result of flooding, ongoing conflict and the disruptive effect of the coronavirus pandemic.   According to the recent Integrated Food Security Analysis, which brings together analysis from NGOs, UN agencies and government officials, parts of the country are now facing a “catastrophic” famine, which means one-in-five households or more lack food, acute malnutrition is greater than 30 per cent, and that starvation and death are already evident.   The signs were all there and there have been numerous warnings of surging food insecurity, driven by the phenomenally disruptive effect of COVID-19. The annual United Nations Global Humanitarian Overview, published in December, revealed that a record 235 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance or protection, a near 40 per cent increase on 2020.   Tragically, South Sudan is not alone, with Yemen, north east Nigeria and Burkina Faso now also on the verge of famine. In the Sahel region of Africa, the disruptive effect of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods, food systems and on children’s education has now dramatically exacerbated what is already one of the world’s most complex and rapidly expanding humanitarian crises.   According to UNICEF, some 7.2 million children now need humanitarian assistance between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.   Burkina Faso has descended particularly rapidly from one of the most peaceful states in Africa merely six years ago to a situation where more than a million people have been displaced by conflict and hundreds of thousands are reliant on emergency assistance for their daily survival.   Famine should not happen in the modern era- anywhere. It can be prevented, but timing is everything.   Three years ago, with four separate regions of the world facing famine, a robust, albeit delayed, humanitarian response involving national and international organisations, UN agencies and governments helped to avert catastrophe. That is not always the case.   The severe East African drought of 2011 - which led to the most devastating famines of the 21st century, with over a quarter of a million deaths, mostly in Somalia- could have been prevented if humanitarian access was guaranteed and the response was well-resourced and rapidly scaled up.   By the time famine is declared, it is, by definition, too late. Somalia was a horrific lesson in that regard, and the collective failure to prevent a famine at the time gave rise to additional warning systems and humanitarian programme modifications that seek to enable a ‘no-regrets’ approach to emergency nutrition.   Almost a decade on however, as the world’s attention is focused on COVID-19, and as access to populations has been further constrained by the pandemic, we are at risk of slipping into catastrophe by delaying a response at the scale that is necessary.   The wider issue driving these levels of hunger is conflict itself, something that still supersedes COVID-19 and even climate change in terms of its effect on hunger levels. After decades of progressive decline, global hunger has been rising since 2015 and a global surge in conflict is the main driver of this increase.   Ireland has its own deep experience of hunger, unique in Europe, and that history has afforded us an empathy and solidarity with the world’s poorest. And as Ireland begins its term on the United Nations Security Council at a time of global uncertainty and increasing hardship there is an the opportunity to action this national empathy on a global policy level.   The passing of UN resolution 2417 in 2018 at the Council, which condemns the starving of civilians as a method of warfare as well as the unlawful denial of humanitarian access to civilian populations was a critical watershed acknowledgement of the direct link between war and hunger.   Ireland now has a timely opportunity to build momentum for accountability, adherence to the resolution and overall protection of civilians in conflict. It won’t be easy and it is impossible to ignore the role of first world countries in weapons production and sale. These same countries are often those that offer a sticking plaster of aid to communities that are falling apart at the seams due to decades of conflict, suffering and hunger.   Combatting hunger is a key and logical entry point for Ireland on the Security Council and something that would undoubtedly be supported at home.   The recent documentary on the Famine, seen by a wide audience across the country, provided a visceral illustration of the true nature of starvation and societal collapse that goes with famine. It also reminded us of the ferocious injustice experienced by ordinary people caught up in wider issues of starvation tied to political neglect.   These issues remain as true now in South Sudan and in other parts of the world as they did for Ireland in the mid-19th century. Ireland suffered when no one acted. We are at the same point in the world today with famine declared and further threatened and where a humanitarian intervention is needed on a far greater scale.   At the start of 2021, our choices and our actions matter more than ever. If we are to build a world without famine and devastating hunger, we cannot ignore those who will simply starve while no one seems to be watching.   http://www.concern.net/news/starvation-never-inevitable-we-must-act-prevent-famine http://www.concern.net/news/causes-of-world-hunger http://www.concern.net/news http://www.globalhungerindex.org/ http://www.alliance2015.org/ Visit the related web page
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