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	People in crisis cannot be forgotten by Dr. Natalia Kanem United Nations Population Fund   Dec. 2023   This year saw records toppled one after the other: The hottest year in human history; the highest number of people displaced; hunger crises at their worst.   With these broken thresholds comes a grim new tipping point: One in every 22 people in the world now needs humanitarian support, while the global humanitarian system faces its severest funding shortfall in years.   To support some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has launched its humanitarian appeal. An urgent call for ramped-up delivery of life-saving reproductive health services and programmes to prevent gender-based violence, the appeal covers 58 countries and 48 million people.   The highest funding needs are in Afghanistan. Years of conflict, poverty, political instability and now recurrent drought have undone decades of progress – particularly for the rights of women and girls – and two thirds of the population need humanitarian assistance.   Exacerbating the situation, in early October a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck western regions of the country, killing and wounding thousands and wiping out health facilities in already underserved and hard-to-access areas.   Sediqa Karimi, a midwife with a UNFPA-supported mobile health team, was immediately deployed to assist women in the village of Naeb Rafi. “Witnessing the suffering of children and women in their final moments left me traumatized,” she said.   Afghanistan is one of the world’s most dangerous countries to give birth, with one woman dying every two hours during pregnancy or delivery. For many, UNFPA’s network of family health houses and community midwives provide the only health-care services available in remote regions. “Our presence is a source of comfort and reassurance for these women in need,” said Ms. Karimi.   As of September, an unprecedented 114 million people across the world had been forcibly displaced from their homes.   “When crisis strikes, women and girls pay the steepest price,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “Unless we put them front and centre in our humanitarian response, we will see more gender-based violence, more child marriage, and more pregnancy and childbirth-related deaths.   In Gaza, 35-year-old Walaa waited to see a doctor at the Al-Hilo hospital with a fracture in her skull and her right hand. “I am in my ninth month, I could give birth any moment now,” she told UNFPA. “Of course I’m afraid to deliver amid war… Nothing is safe. Even hospitals are not safe.”   There are an estimated 50,000 pregnant women currently in Gaza, with scarce access to reproductive health care, enough food to eat or a safe place to stay.   In Yemen, nearly half of all health facilities have closed since the conflict escalated; UNFPA is the only organization providing life-saving reproductive health services in hospitals, at camps for internally displaced people and through mobile clinics. Now with repeated cycles of drought and flooding, the climate crisis is rapidly multiplying the risks women and girls face.   Recent UNFPA data show that countries most vulnerable to climate change also have some of the highest maternal death and child marriage rates, and among the most chronic levels of gender-based violence.   Over the next decade, climate and conflict will likely force more women and girls to move in search of safety and shelter, increasing their exposure to violence: UNFPA estimates that in 2024 more than 6 million pregnant women will need critical humanitarian assistance and some 84 million women and girls risk facing gender-based violence.   Since conflict broke out in Sudan in mid-April this year, many medical facilities have struggled to operate and access to critical supplies have been severely compromised.   “In one month we lost six women during labour in the hospital I work for because of shortages of Oxytocin,” said one doctor, who preferred not to be named. “It's really sad to see women die because of shortages of medicine. The happiness of a lot of families turned into an endless sorrow because of that.”   UNFPA is shipping vital haemorrhage-treating medicines to Sudan, a lifeline for over 500,000 women who during pregnancy and childbirth are at risk of uncontrolled bleeding, the leading cause of maternal deaths in the country.   This year alone UNFPA served over 10 million people in the most demanding emergencies, providing reproductive health services and protection against gender-based violence for 4.2 million.   “Together we are working for a world where, whatever the crisis, protecting the health, safety, and rights of women and girls is priority number one,” says Dr. Kanem. “This is the foundation for the peace, justice and security that they – and the world – so desperately need.”   http://www.unfpa.org/safebirth#/en http://www.unfpa.org/news/ Visit the related web page
	Urgent humanitarian action is essential in 18 hunger hotspots by Kyung-nan Park Director of Emergencies, World Food Programme   Nov. 2023   The latest Hunger Hotspots report provides a telling reminder of critical humanitarian emergencies that risk falling under the radar while the world’s attention is on the conflict in Israel and Palestine.   In addition to Palestine – now added to the countries of highest concern – other countries highlighted at greatest risk of a serious deterioration in food security and possible starvation are Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan and the Sudan.   In total, urgent humanitarian action is essential in 18 hunger hotspots – comprising 22 countries or territories – according to the report jointly issued by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).   “The risks identified in these countries of concern are alarming, revealing the sobering truth about what will happen if we don't act quickly to prevent further loss of life,” said Kyung-nan Park, Director of Emergencies for WFP. “Now more than ever, both emergency responses and preparedness are critical to prevent these deteriorations in food security."   The report warns that acute food insecurity is highly likely to worsen in Palestine during the outlook period of Novermber 2023 to April 2024, due to the sharp escalation in conflict. Among its primary recommendations is endorsement of a plea from the United Nations Secretary-General for a ceasefire, and access to facilitate aid delivery to the Gaza Strip.   The conflict in Palestine reinforces a warning – also highlighted in the previous report published in May – that the trend of increased civilian targeting across different conflicts, and the growing number of actors using such tactics, is expected to continue throughout 2023.   Conflict is one of the main drivers of hunger globally. Instability and violence continue to surge in the Sahel region, from coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and the Niger to the unabating conflict in the Sudan affecting neighbouring countries such as Chad. Between July and September 2023, the region accounted for 22 percent of all global fatalities generated by conflict.   The magnitude and pace of displacement in the Sudan continue at an alarming level, disrupting food production and access, and affecting almost 5.6 million people as of mid‑September 2023. This includes 1.2 million people who have crossed the border into neighbouring countries – a sixfold increase over four months. Recommendations include increasing the provision of life‑saving food and nutrition, and continuing efforts to improve access to people in the Sudan who urgently need humanitarian support.   In South Sudan, insufficient crop production, high staple food prices and lack of resources to support the rising numbers of returnees from the Sudan are all expected to contribute to the persistence of critical food insecurity.   Eight countries are highlighted as being of “very high concern”, namely Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen. These all have a high number of people facing or projected to face critical levels of acute food insecurity.   Different factors, depending on the country – including conflict, climate-related disasters and economic slumps – are expected to intensify life‑threatening conditions in the coming months.   Food insecurity is being compounded by enforced ration cuts in several hunger hotspots of very high concern, due to lack of funding for humanitarian assistance. In Afghanistan for example, a shocking 10 million people have been cut off from life‑saving assistance due to a massive funding shortfall. Other countries affected include Haiti, Palestine, Somalia, the Syrian Arabic Republic and Yemen.   "The current historic humanitarian funding crisis will inevitably impact these looming crises,” said Kyung-nan. “If WFP and humanitarian actors do not receive the funding needed to address them, millions of people could be pushed further into hunger and to the brink of starvation. The cost of inaction is catastrophic, especially for the most vulnerable. It is critical now more than ever for stakeholders to invest in preparedness and resilience programming so that communities are better prepared for these forthcoming climate, conflict, and economic shocks."   While funding lags, humanitarian needs remain high, also driven by factors including the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine on global supply chains and food prices.   Several countries in Central America are expected to be hit hard by the El Niño weather pattern, with drought expected along the Dry Corridor in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, as well as in Malawi – all of which remain hunger hotspots.   "We can't forget about the countries at high risk of experiencing climate-related impacts, as weather extremes and disasters are becoming more and more prevalent and severe,” said Kyung-nan. “This includes the predicted impacts of El Nino, and forecasted hurricanes, floods, and droughts across regions.”   While the impact of these are often unexpected and unpredictable, she added, warnings in the report could be used not only for emergency responses, but also to better prepare through anticipatory action that ultimately saves and lives and also costs."   In addition to emergency response measures, the report emphasizes the importance of such anticipatory action – short-term protective measures before new humanitarian needs materialize. In the Dry Corridor for example, this means providing early-warning messages of looming hurricanes and strategically positioning supplies to enable quick delivery.   In Malawi, it means distributing drought-tolerant seeds ahead of the planting season, along with hermetic grain storage bags. In South Sudan, this means providing forecast‑based cash transfers that help families mitigate the impacts of pending floods, for example if they have to evacuate their homes.   Chad, Djibouti, the Niger and Zimbabwe have all been added to the list of hunger hotspot countries and territories since the May 2023 edition, in addition to Palestine. Varying factors again include conflict, high food prices and climate effects.   Urgent, scaled-up assistance is required across all 18 hunger hotspots to protect livelihoods and increase access to food. This is critical to avert further deterioration of acute food insecurity and malnutrition, despite challenges due to insecurity, bureaucratic hurdles, and access constraints that all hinder safe and rapid assistance.   http://www.wfp.org/stories/hunger-report-sounds-alarm-emergencies-risk-going-forgotten-amid-crisis-palestine http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots/en/ http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-update-9-november-2023 http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/   * UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) - November 2023; Crop Prospects and Food Situation: Intensifying conflicts drive up food insecurity: http://www.fao.org/3/cc8566en/cc8566en.pdf http://www.fao.org/giews/country-analysis/external-assistance/en/   The world’s most fragile countries are those most impacted by climate change. (WFP)   The world must rapidly scale up protection for vulnerable people on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the World Food Programme (WFP) warns, a week before world leaders meet in Dubai for the next UN Climate Summit, COP28. Last year alone, climate extremes pushed 56.8 million people into acute food insecurity.   Many of the world’s most fragile countries are those most impacted by climate change. The climate crisis doesn’t have to be a hunger crisis, but that’s exactly what’s happening. We have a collective duty to protect and support people living on the edge of this growing disaster and we need to do it now, says the World Food Programme.   WFP is calling for immediate support to scale up climate protection for food-insecure communities whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by global warming, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings.   Without decisive and transformational action to protect communities against extreme weather events, the world will see growing hunger, insecurity and displacement.   By strengthening local systems and directing more funding to contexts most at risk, it is possible to better protect local food systems from the worst impacts of climate extremes and avoid prolonged food insecurity.   However, as currently funded, the humanitarian system is struggling to keep up with the pace of escalating crises, pushing more and more people into hunger and weakening already strained food systems.   The world is coming dangerously close to permanently passing the critical 1.5°C degrees limit of global warming. The first half of this year saw the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record in southern Africa and record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires across Europe, North America and Asia. The rains that arrived after the three-year long drought in the Horn of Africa brought flash floods and mass displacement, rather than relief to farmers.   With over 333 million people facing acute food insecurity and a more than 60 percent shortfall in WFP funding this year, it is critical that the world prioritizes protecting people from climate shocks.   http://www.wfp.org/stories/cop28-4-ways-world-can-curb-loss-and-damage-climate-change-fuels-hunger http://www.nrc.no/feature/2023/10-things-to-know-about-climate-change-and-displacement/ http://www.unicef.org/reports/children-displaced-changing-climate http://www.msf.org/cop28-more-failure-not-option-vulnerable-communities http://www.unocha.org/roadmap-cop28 http://www.rescue.org/press-release/failure-deadly-vulnerable-countries-need-climate-action-now-says-irc-ahead-cop28 http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5347-adverse-impact-climate-change-full-realization-right-food   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/cop28-number-children-facing-hunger-due-weather-extremes-more-doubles-2022 http://www.unicef.org/reports/climate-changed-child http://www.gndr.org/global-network-of-civil-society-organisations-for-disaster-reduction-urges-bold-action-at-cop28-to-address-climate-crisis/ http://www.educationcannotwait.org/resource-library/futures-risk-climate-induced-shocks-and-their-toll-education-crisis-affected http://www.wvi.org/newsroom/rising-storms-climate-change-effects-exacerbating-conflict-and-hunger-crisis http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2023/12/cop28-global-coalition-for-social-protection-floors-calls-for-building-social-protection-systems-to-deal-with-loss-and-damage/ Visit the related web page
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