238 Organizations from 75 countries, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Plan International have signed an open letter addressing world leaders gathering in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, 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, according to Oxfam, famine is once more imminent in Somalia. Around the world, 50 million people are on the brink of starvation in 45 countries.
Mohanna Ahmed Ali Eljabaly from the Yemen Family Care Association, one of the letter’s signatories, said:
“It is abysmal that with all the technology in agriculture and harvesting techniques today we are still talking about famine in the 21st century. This is not about one country or one continent and hunger never only has one cause. This is about the injustice of the whole of humanity. It is extremely difficult to see people suffering while others sharing the same planet have plenty of food. We must not wait a moment longer to focus both on providing immediate lifesaving food and longer-term support so people can take charge of their futures and provide for themselves and their families.”
Sumaya, a 32-year-old mother who lives with her four children in a displacement camp in the Somali region of Ethiopia, is one of the millions facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
“No water, no food, a hopeless life,” she said. “Above all, my children are starving. They are on the verge of death. Unless they get some food, I’m afraid they will die.”
The global hunger crisis has been fueled by a deadly mix of multiple social issues such as poverty, social injustice, gender inequality, conflict, climate change, and economic shocks, with the haunting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War further driving up food prices and the cost of living.
