Bisma Narejo
Today, millions of children are facing the worst hunger crisis that the world has seen in decades. Forty-five million people are close to starvation right now – facing famine or famine-like conditions – with children and women hit the hardest. COVID-19 caused a sharp rise in poverty and inequality globally, as lockdowns devastated family livelihoods. In many countries, pandemic restrictions also meant disruption to food supplies, slowing remittances from family overseas and the halting of school meal programmes. Steep rises in food prices are also creating immense strain on household budgets, with the poorest families hardest hit. Conflict is the biggest cause of hunger globally, and is responsible for 65% of the people facing acute food insecurity. Climate change has contributed to food insecurity by changing weather patterns such as rainfall, increased climatic shocks such as hurricanes, cyclones, floods and droughts which all have an impact on harvests. Inflation and economic shocks has impacted the access to food for many people. Even if food is available, for many people it is too expensive to buy reducing people’s access to food. We can’t afford to wait until more countries reach emergency levels of food insecurity. Children are already dying from hunger. The time to act is now – there shouldn’t be any further delay. Governments and donors must supply funding for food, nutrition, protection, education and livelihood support. Food distributions and cash transfers must be scaled up to reach those in dire need.
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