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Global Humanitarian Overview 2024
by United Nations News, agencies
 
27 Feb. 2024
 
WFP Global Operational Response Plan: Update #10 – February 2024
 
This report provides an analysis of food security and evolving needs and an update on World Food Programme’s response and priorities.
 
The convergence of multiple crises – conflict, extreme climate patterns and economic shocks – is driving hunger, eroding livelihoods and entrenching vulnerabilities especially in the hardest hit food crisis countries.
 
This comes at a time when global demand for urgent humanitarian and development assistance remains significantly high, whereas funding levels of WFP have returned to pre-pandemic levels, following the outlier year 2022 generous donations.
 
More than ever, WFP is undertaking efforts to navigate this challenging humanitarian space by optimizing its available resources. WFP continues to prioritize the most vulnerable people with lifesaving assistance in the operations of the highest concern – the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Sahel, Haiti, Sudan regional crisis, Palestine, Yemen and several others at risk of becoming ‘forgotten emergencies’.
 
Ending world hunger is one of the greatest challenges of our time; as many as 309 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity in 2024 in the 72 countries with WFP operations and where data is available.
 
An estimated 42.3 million people across 45 countries will be in Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity in 2024. Without urgent life-saving action, these populations will be at risk of falling into catastrophe or famine conditions.
 
Globally, an estimated 45 million children under 5 were suffering from wasting. In 2024, the convergence of threats may further increase the number of children and pregnant and breastfeeding women affected by acute malnutrition.
 
Women and girls are bearing the brunt of the food crisis due to the social norms and structural barriers that limit their influence over the use of vital resources.
 
Between January and December 2023, WFP was able to reach an estimated 150 million people with food, cash and commodity vouchers. This is around 10 million fewer people reached than the same period in 2022. For 2024, WFP aims to reach 150 million people based on projected needs. WFP requires US$21.1 billion to meet food and nutrition needs this year.
 
http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-update-10-february-2024
 
Jan. 2024
 
Global Humanitarian Overview 2024. (OCHA)
 
On behalf of more than 1,900 humanitarian partners worldwide, the United Nations launched its global humanitarian appeal for 2024, calling for US$46.4 billion to help 180.5 million people with life-saving assistance and protection.
 
Armed conflicts, the climate emergency and collapsing economies are taking a devastating toll on the most vulnerable communities on all continents, resulting in catastrophic hunger, massive displacement and disease outbreaks.
 
One child in every five lives in, or has fled from, conflict zones in 2023. Some 258 million people face acute hunger. One in 73 people worldwide is displaced – a doubling in 10 years. And disease outbreaks are causing preventable deaths in all corners of the world.
 
“Humanitarians are saving lives, fighting hunger, protecting children, pushing back epidemics, and providing shelter and sanitation in many of the world’s most inhumane contexts. But the necessary support from the international community is not keeping pace with the needs,” said Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
 
“We thank all donors for their contributions this year - but it was just a third of what was needed. If we cannot provide more help in 2024, people will pay for it with their lives.”
 
Funding shortfalls in 2023 meant that humanitarian organizations reached less than two thirds of the people they aimed to assist.
 
The consequences are tragic: In Afghanistan, 10 million people lost access to food assistance between May and November. In Myanmar, more than half a million people were left in inadequate living conditions. In Yemen, more than 80 per cent of people targeted for assistance do not have proper water and sanitation. And in Nigeria, only 2 per cent of the women expecting sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence prevention received it.
 
Aid organizations have addressed this needs-and-resources gap in their 2024 response plans, which will have a more disciplined focus on the most urgent needs and will target fewer people: nearly 181 million next year compared to 245 million at the end of 2023. Organizations are also appealing for less money: $46.4 billion for 2024 compared to $56.7 billion at the end of the 2023 global appeal.
 
However, the ambition to reach all people in need has not changed, and the call to donors to fully fund all the response plans is as urgent as ever.
 
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (Extract):
 
"As enter 2024, almost 300 million people around the world are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection – 300 million people.
 
And we know the causes. New and resurgent conflicts around the world with deep and long-lasting consequences, almost none of which are resolved and become what we call intractable.
 
This year, we have seen the eruption of yet more brutal conflicts. In Sudan in April and, in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in October, joining the myriad other unresolved conflicts that have kept millions of people in the state of prolonged need. A year ago Ukraine, Syria, Yemen to name only a few.
 
The global climate emergency has continued to spiral out of control. 2023 has been the hottest year on record. We have seen multiple concurrent climate disasters, from Tropical Cyclone Freddy in southern Africa to wildfires in Europe, and the other devastation wrought by storm Daniel in Libya. And we were lucky to escape famine in the Horn of Africa. More children are now are displaced by climate than by conflict.
 
Persistent unequal economic pressures, climate disasters, disease outbreaks and other factors are significant drivers of need. Across the world more people are displaced than at any time since the beginning of this century: One in every 73 people around the world, a ratio that has been doubled in more than 10 years.
 
In 2023, we received just over one third of the $57 billion required, making this the worst funding shortfall in years. The result is that many people, around 38 percent of those targeted through our emergency-specific plans in countries, did not get the humanitarian assistance we sought to provide. Throughout the year, humanitarian agencies had to make painful decisions, including cutting life-saving food, water and health programming.
 
The World Food Programme reports that for every one per cent cut in funding - 400,000 more people fall into serious food insecurity. And we would like to hope, to not continue this trend into next year.
 
If we are to overcome increasingly complex challenges to humanitarian action, which we will see in 2024 – it’s all of us, who need to come together to play our part. The most important role the international community can play in crises is to do everything possible to save lives, to reconfirm that we are, at our core, one humanity.
 
Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator:
 
The world is in the midst of one of the largest humanitarian crises of the modern era, with the devastation wrought by conflict, climate change and economic hardship fuelling unprecedented levels of suffering.
 
The number of people suffering acute food shortages caused mainly by climate-related disasters has doubled in the space of a year. The displacement crisis is now worse than any we have seen this century. And today’s conflicts are more intense than ever.
 
In the face of all of this, humanitarians around the world have continued to display astonishing levels of sacrifice, resolve and courage as they strive to reach people in their darkest hour.
 
In 2023, the humanitarian community helped 128 million people with some form of assistance. Unfortunately, donor funding this year fell far short of needs. As a result, humanitarian agencies have had to make increasingly painful decisions, cutting life-saving food, water and health programming, with devastating results for so many.
 
We cannot allow this trend to continue into next year. That’s why today – on behalf of more than 1,900 humanitarian partners, the majority of them local and national NGOs – we are urging donors to fully fund our appeal for 2024.
 
This money will provide a lifeline to 181 million people in 72 countries – men, women and children whose lives have been shattered by war, climate change, economic hardship and other disasters.
 
Although the amount we’re asking for is less than last year, this does not mean the global humanitarian situation has improved. It means we have had to focus our efforts on the people who face the greatest threat to their lives.
 
Dec. 2023
 
300 million people caught up in humanitarian crises will need urgent support in 2024 - CARE International & 14 International Non-Government organizations
 
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched the Global Humanitarian Overview for 2024, which outlines the most pressing humanitarian needs around the globe and what will it take to respond to them. Some 300 million individuals face unbelievable suffering next year.
 
To ensure all people will receive the support they need and deserve, CARE International along with 14 other INGOs urges the international community to fully fund the response to all humanitarian crises and address the root causes that perpetuate them.
 
Joint NGO Statement:
 
Despite years of preventable suffering, human casualties and violence on a catastrophic scale, millions of forcibly displaced, massive and often deliberate destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and other critical civilian infrastructure, and increasingly, climate emergencies, there are no real and clear political resolutions to put an end to numerous crises.
 
As diverse NGOs delivering aid across multiple crises, in accordance with humanitarian principles, we bear witness to growing humanitarian needs and the tremendous suffering of millions of people. We also witness the incredible resilience and courage of communities to withstand shocks and rebuild their lives, if adequately, timely and equitably supported.
 
Despite donor generosity, the funding of global appeals in 2023 amounted to only 35%, leaving millions exposed to hunger, diseases, and pervasive protection risks, bereft of essential services. In such scenarios, women and children are disproportionately affected, and hard-won development gains reversed.
 
Although we see ever escalating needs, the total number of People in Need outlined in the 2024 GHO was reduced by almost 64 million compared to 2023. This reduction is a result of “boundary setting” prioritisation that will effectively provide aid to some while denying it to others.
 
As the lifeline for many will be cut or reduced, protection risks, including the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, will skyrocket. We warn of the risk of making People in Need invisible and recall our collective commitment to leave no one behind.
 
We value OCHA’s and various Humanitarian Country Teams efforts to prepare evidence-based appeals. But we also recognise constraints to conduct needs assessment in specific contexts and call for upholding an impartial needs based targeting approach, informed by age, gender, and disability disaggregated data, as well as by the views and priorities of affected people.
 
The international community must not let people down twice. It is already failing to address the root causes of conflicts, climate change, and other drivers of humanitarian needs.
 
Existing and new donors must fully fund the 2024 GHO, including the work of international, national and local NGOs who have demonstrated to be best placed to reach affected people.
 
We also urge development actors to play a more active role to bring in substantive and sustainable additional resources to work in strategic collaboration with humanitarian actors to reduce needs over time.
 
(Signed: ActionAid International, CARE International, Caritas Internationalis, Christian Aid, Danish Refugee Council, Feminist Humanitarian Network, Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International Trocaire, INTERSOS, The Lutheran World Federation, Norwegian Refugee Council, OXFAM, Plan International, Save the Children, Trocaire, World Vision International)
 
Worsening hunger crisis requires global response across all sectors. (OCHA)
 
Hunger is not inevitable, but it is almost always man-made, driven by a combination of armed conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes, poverty and inequality. Today, poverty and inequality remain the largest drivers of chronic hunger, while armed conflict continues to be the biggest driver of acute hunger in the world. 117 million people were driven to hunger by conflict in 2022.
 
In recent years, climate-related weather extremes have also destroyed ecosystems and people’s livelihoods.
 
Global food insecurity has reached new heights, causing 258 million people in 2022 to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 58 countries. Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Nigeria and Yemen being amongst those countries worst affected.
 
In 2022, wasting threatened the lives of 45 million children under 5 (or 7 per cent of all children). Women and people living in rural areas are amongst the hardest hit by food insecurity.
 
The outlook for 2023-2024 remains serious and likely to deteriorate further in the absence of concerted international support. Looking at 2023, as many as 333 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure in the 78 countries with World Food Programme (WFP) operations and where data is available.
 
By April 2024, populations in 18 out of 22 countries or territories, identified as Hunger Hotspots, are likely to face a significant deterioration in acute food insecurity levels, with Burkina Faso, Mali, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), South Sudan and Sudan of high concern.
 
In these countries, people either already face, or are projected to face, starvation or are at risk of deterioration towards catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH 5).
 
Persistently high food prices are adding extra pressure to food insecurity worldwide. Although global food prices have fallen from their peak in 2023, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
 
Domestic food prices increased in all 58 countries/territories with food crises by the end of the 2022, with food inflation of over 10 per cent in 38 of them, and making essential purchases unaffordable for many people.
 
The war in Ukraine also caused fertilizer and freight costs to surge, placing additional pressure on food prices by increasing the cost of production and transport.
 
Humanitarians have also faced increasing financial pressure in their operational costs associated with insecurity and volatility in areas of operation, the higher cost of commodities and cost of food, fuel and transport. For example, the World Food Programme’s current operational costs are, on average, 27 per cent higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic
 
http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2024/ http://www.wfp.org/stories/2023-pictures-ration-cuts-threaten-catastrophe-millions-facing-hunger http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/global-hunger-funding-gap-hit-65-percent-for-neediest-countries/ http://www.savethechildren.net/news/2023-review-nearly-16000-children-day-plunged-hunger-top-10-worsening-food-crises http://www.care-international.org/news/300-million-people-caught-humanitarian-crises-will-need-urgent-support-2024 http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/launch-2024-humanitarian-appeal http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2024/article/worsening-hunger-crisis-requires-global-response-across-all-sectors


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World leaders need to prioritize humanitarian funding as acute hunger hits record levels
by Carl Skau
Deputy executive director of the World Food Programme
 
The United Nations World Food Program has been forced to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in many countries because of “a crippling funding crisis” that has seen its donations fall by about half as acute hunger is hitting record levels, a top official said Friday.
 
Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, told a news conference that at least 38 of the 86 countries where WFP operates have already seen cuts or plan to cut assistance soon — including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and West Africa.
 
He said WFP’s operating requirement is $20 billion to deliver food assistance to reach 171.5 million people in great need, but it was being forced to plan for between $10 billion and $14 billion this year.
 
“We’re still aiming at that, but we have only so far this year gotten to about half of that, around $5 billion,” Skau said.
 
He said humanitarian needs were “going through the roof” in 2021 and 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and its global implications. “Those needs continue to grow, those drivers are still there,” he said, “but the funding is drying up. So we’re looking at 2024 being even more dire.”
 
“The largest food and nutrition crisis in history today persists,” Skau said. “This year, 345 million people continue to be acutely food insecure while hundreds of millions of people are at risk of worsening hunger.”
 
Carl Skau said conflict and insecurity remain the primary drivers of acute hunger around the world, along with climate change, unrelenting natural disasters, persistent food price inflation and mounting debt stress — all during a slowdown in the global economy.
 
He urged the agency’s traditional donors to “step up and support us through this very difficult time.”
 
Asked why funding was drying up, Skau said to ask the donors. “But it’s clear that aid budgets, humanitarian budgets, both in Europe and the United States, are not where they were in 2021-2022”.
 
Mr. Skau said that in March, WFP was forced to cut rations from 75% to 50% for communities in Afghanistan facing emergency levels of hunger, and in May it was forced to cut food for 8 million people — 66% of the people it was assisting. Now, it is helping just 5 million people, he said.
 
In Syria, 5.5 million people who relied on WFP for food were already on 50% rations, Skau said, and in July the agency cut all rations to 2.5 million of them. In the Palestinian territories, WFP cut its cash assistance by 20% in May and in June. It cut its caseload by 60%, or 200,000 people. And in Yemen, he said, a huge funding gap will force WFP to cut aid to 7 million people as early as August.
 
In West Africa, where acute hunger is on the rise, Skau said, most countries are facing extensive ration cuts, particularly WFP’s seven largest crisis operations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon.
 
He said cutting aid to people who are only at the hunger level of crisis to help save those literally starving or in the category of catastrophic hunger means that those dropped will rapidly fall into the emergency and catastrophe categories, “and so we will have an additional humanitarian emergency on our hands down the road.”
 
“Ration cuts are clearly not the way to go forward,” Skau said.
 
He urged world leaders to prioritize humanitarian funding and invest in long-tern solutions to conflicts, poverty, development and other root causes of the current crisis.
 
http://www.wfp.org/stories/2023-pictures-ration-cuts-threaten-catastrophe-millions-facing-hunger http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2023/12/13/wfp-aid-food-cuts-mean-people-hunger-crisis-around-world
 
Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, November 2023 to April 2024 outlook
 
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warn that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 18 hunger hotspots – comprising a total of 22 countries during the outlook period from November 2023 to April 2024.
 
Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan and the Sudan remain at highest concern levels. Palestine was added to the list of countries/territories of highest concern due to the severe escalation of conflict in October 2023. These hotspots have populations that are facing or projected to face starvation (Catastrophe, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC]/Cadre Harmonisé [CH] Phase 5) or are at risk of deterioration towards catastrophic conditions during the outlook period, given they have populations already facing critical food insecurity (Emergency, IPC/CH Phase 4) and are facing severe aggravating factors. These countries require urgent attention.
 
Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of very high concern. All these hotspots have a high number of people facing or projected to face critical levels of acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life‐threatening conditions in the coming months.
 
Since the May 2023 edition, Chad, Djibouti, the Niger, Palestine and Zimbabwe have been added to the list of hunger hotspot countries/ territories, while the countries in the Dry Corridor of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) and Malawi remain hunger hotspot countries. The countries/territories and situations covered in this report highlight the most significant deteriorations of hunger expected in the outlook period, but do not represent all countries or territories with high levels of acute food insecurity.
 
Armed violence, in particular the trend of increased civilian targeting, will likely continue to underpin the ongoing upward trajectory in global displacement. The ongoing hostilities in the Gaza Strip are expected to further intensify and exacerbate the already dramatic humanitarian implications for the population in the outlook period, with the risk of potentially wider regional implications.
 
Instability and violence continue to surge in the Sahel region, from the recent coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and the Niger to the unabating conflict in the Sudan affecting neighbouring countries like Chad.
 
Between July and September 2023, the region accounted for 22 percent of all global fatalities generated by conflict. The requested withdrawal and ongoing drawdown of peacekeeping missions from Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia could amplify security voids, permitting increased non‐state armed group (NSAG) activities and attacks against civilians, and could cause constraints to humanitarian operations.
 
Insecurity and conflicts are poised to exacerbate already restricted access to, and availability of, food – through displacement, the disruption of markets and livelihoods, and especially the reduction or abandonment of cultivated areas, contributing to deepening protracted food crises.
 
International food prices remain high by historic standards, and are expected to come under increased upward pressure in the coming months due to oil price dynamics and the impact of El Nino conditions on agricultural production.
 
Ongoing or planned reductions and gaps in emergency food, agriculture and livelihood assistance affect several hunger hotspots of very high concern and highest concern, such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Palestine, Somalia, the Syrian Arabic Republic and Yemen, other hunger hotspots, such as Malawi, and countries or situations that require monitoring, such as Uganda and Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh).
 
Weather extremes, such as heavy rains, tropical storms, cyclones, flooding, drought and increased climate variability, remain significant drivers of acute food insecurity in some countries and regions.
 
The El Nino climatic shift has already had a negative impact on various regions, notably Southeast Asia and Latin America, and is anticipated to persist in the upcoming six months, notably affecting regions in East Africa, Southern Africa and Latin America. Continuous monitoring of forecasts and their impacts on production remains critical.
 
Urgent and scaled-up assistance is required in all 18 hunger hotspots to increase access to food and protect livelihoods. This is essential to avert a further deterioration of acute food insecurity and malnutrition. In the hotspots of highest concern, humanitarian support and actions are critical in preventing further starvation and death.
 
http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots/en/ http://www.wfp.org/stories/hunger-report-sounds-alarm-emergencies-risk-going-forgotten-amid-crisis-palestine http://reliefweb.int/report/burkina-faso/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-november-2023-april-2024-outlook http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-update-9-november-2023
 
Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, June-November 2023
 
Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 18 hunger "Hotspots" comprising a total of 22 countries, for the period June to November 2023 a new UN early warning report has found.
 
The report spotlights the risk of a spill-over of the Sudan crisis - raising the risk of negative impacts in neighbouring countries, shows that deepening economic shocks continue to drive low- and middle-income nations deeper into crisis, and warns that a likely El Nino climatic phenomenon is raising fears of climate extremes in vulnerable countries around the globe.
 
The report also found that many hotspots are facing growing hunger and highlights the worrying multiplier effect that simultaneous and overlapping shocks are having on acute food insecurity. Conflict, climate extremes, and economic shocks continue to drive more and more communities into crisis.
 
The report, 'Hunger Hotspots - FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity issued today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in hotspots where acute hunger is at a high risk of worsening from June to November 2023.
 
"Not only are more people in more places around the world going hungry, but the severity of the hunger they face is worse than ever," said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program.
 
"This report makes it clear: we must act now to save lives, help people adapt to a changing climate, and ultimately prevent famine. If we don't, the results will be catastrophic," Mr Skau warned.
 
"Business-as-usual pathways are no longer an option, if we want ensure that no one is left behind." said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General. "We need to provide immediate interventions to pull people from the brink of hunger, help them rebuild their lives, and provide long-term solutions to address the root causes of food insecurity," he added.
 
The report warns of a major risk of El Nino conditions, which meteorologists forecast to emerge by mid-2023 with an 82 percent probability. The expected shift in climate patterns will have significant implications for several hotspots, including below-average rains in the Dry Corridor of Central America, and raises the spectre of consecutive extreme climatic events hitting areas of the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.
 
The spill-over from the crisis in the Sudan is driving massive population displacement and hunger among people forced from their homes in search of refuge and those hosting them -- the report warns. More than one million people are expected to flee the country while an additional 2.5 million inside the Sudan set to face acute hunger in coming months.
 
Sudan was already hosting over one million refugees -- and if the conflict persists hundreds of thousands are likely to return to their counties of origin -- many of which are already in the grips of underfunded and protracted refugee crises, compounded by social, political and economic stressors.
 
Supply routes for commercial and relief goods in and out of Port Sudan are being disrupted by insecurity, putting in jeopardy humanitarian assistance flows and regional relief efforts, the report notes.
 
Disruptions to trade, cross-border commercial activities, and supply chains risk also driving up prices and inflation and depleting foreign exchange reserves in several countries -- particularly in South Sudan -- a country that relies on Port Sudan for both commercial and humanitarian imports, as well as vital oil exports.
 
The report warns that displacement into neighbouring countries and disruptions to trade risk also driving tensions among displaced people, those hosting them and new arrivals, as many hard-hit countries are already grappling with significant numbers of displaced people competing for limited livelihood and labour opportunities -- particularly Chad and South Sudan - where fragile sociopolitical environments are at risk of deteriorating.
 
Economic shocks and stressors continue to drive acute hunger in almost all hotspots, reflecting global trends that are carrying over from 2022 when economic risks were driving hunger in more countries and for more people than conflict was. These risks are largely linked to the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ripple effect from the war in Ukraine.
 
2023 is expected to bring a global economic slowdown amid monetary tightening in high-income countries -- increasing the cost of credit, weakening local currencies, and further exacerbating the debt crisis in low- and middle-income economies.
 
The International Monetary Fund projects global GDP growth at 2.8 percent in 2023 -- the lowest level in ten years besides the COVID-19 induced plunge in 2020. Sub-Saharan Africa GDP will also grow 0.3 percent less than in 2022. Low- and middle- income countries are expected to be hit the hardest by the projected slow growth in their main export markets, alongside inflation rate hikes in high-income economies that will rely heavily on exports to advanced economies.
 
With global food prices likely to remain elevated compared with historical standards in coming months, macroeconomic pressures in low- and middle-income countries are unlikely to ease. This means that the subsequent drop in purchasing power will negatively affect families' access to food in coming months in many hotspots.
 
Key Findings
 
According to the report, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen remain at the highest alert level. Haiti, the Sahel (Burkina Faso and Mali) and Sudan have been elevated to the highest concern levels; this is due to severe movement restrictions to people and goods in Burkina Faso, Haiti and Mali, and the recent outbreak of conflict in the Sudan.
 
All hotspots at the highest level 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. These hotspots require the most urgent attention, the report warns.
 
The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan and Syria are hotspots with very high concern, and the alert is also extended to Myanmar in this edition. All these hotspots have 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. Lebanon has been added to the list of hotspots, joining Malawi and Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) that remain hotspots.
 
Scaling up humanitarian action to prevent disasters
 
To avert a further deterioration of acute hunger and malnutrition, the report provides country-specific recommendations on priorities for immediate emergency response to save lives, prevent famine and protect livelihoods, as well as anticipatory action.
 
Humanitarian action will be critical in preventing starvation and death -- particularly in the highest alert hotspots, but the report notes how humanitarian access is constrained by insecurity, bureaucratic barriers, and movement restrictions - posing a major challenge to humanitarian responders around the globe.
 
The report also stresses the importance of strengthening anticipatory action in humanitarian and development assistance - ensuring predictable hazards do not become full-blown humanitarian disasters.
 
http://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-june-november-2023 http://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/increasing-risk-of-hunger-set-to-spread-in-hotspot-areas/en http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots/en/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/


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