Conflict’s long shadow has a Name: It’s Hunger by Dr. Charles E. Owubah CEO, Action Against Hunger   Apr. 2024   Scarce food and drinking water. Limited and inconsistent healthcare. Rapidly deteriorating mental health. With conflict on the rise globally, this is the grim reality for millions around the world.   April 7th will mark the sixth-month anniversary of the attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, which has killed over 30,000 people. It has left millions without shelter, medicine, food or clean water. Without intervention, 50% of Gaza’s population is at imminent risk of famine.   While this tragedy understandably dominates global headlines, there are countless hostilities that don’t make the news. Many bear grim similarities to Gaza, but the striking difference is that other places are seemingly invisible, their people left to suffer in conflict’s dark shadow as hunger and an ever-rising death toll becomes the norm.   Though the ups and downs of fighting can be unpredictable, the link between conflict and hunger is not. Over 85% of people experiencing hunger crises worldwide live in conflict-affected countries.   Hunger can be both a trigger and a consequence of conflict; limited resources can drive disputes for food and the means to produce it, and conflict can disrupt harvests and force families from their homes.   Climate change makes it even harder for people to cope, since heatwaves, droughts and floods further lower crop yields and access to support.   Gender-based violence also increases during conflict. This can include sexual based violence, forced or early marriage, and intimate partner violence. Violence against women and girls is sometimes even used as a weapon of war.   For vulnerable populations trapped in forgotten crises, humanitarian aid–or the lack of it–can mean the difference between life and death.   In Eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for example, rampant violence has left nearly 7 million Congolese internally displaced, making it the second-largest crisis of this kind anywhere in the world. Hundreds of thousands are hungry and need immediate humanitarian assistance.   Since January’s upsurge in conflict, Action Against Hunger health facilities in the region have admitted four times the number of severely malnourished children under five years old.   Outside the city of Goma and across North Kivu province, where there are almost 2.4 million displaced people, violence has stopped families from returning to their homes for weeks or months at a time, leaving them largely unable to grow food and few resources to buy it.   The fighting has involved indiscriminate targeting of civilians and infrastructure, militarization of camps for internally displaced people, and blockades on key supply routes.   Many families struggle to find basic necessities, let alone afford them. Humanitarian organizations can’t deliver much-needed assistance. People are increasingly destitute and desperate.   Similarly, in Sudan, a year of conflict has left almost 18 million people – one third of the country’s population – acutely food insecure. The conflict is primarily focused around the capital of Khartoum, with a devastating effect on the whole country. Around 10% of the population is on the brink of famine.   With key trade routes compromised, shortages of food, fuel, medicines and other basic supplies means prices are soaring, and the limited goods are out of reach of most families. A large-scale cholera outbreak is causing the situation to deteriorate further.   The disease leads to diarrhea and worsens malnutrition. It is so contagious even one case must be treated as an epidemic; Sudan has seen more than 10,000 cases, and counting. Cholera can kill within hours if not treated, but medical help is in short supply.   Violence prevents humanitarian workers from accessing hard-hit communities, leaving many without access to food, healthcare and basic necessities.   As a result, millions have fled their homes in search of food and safety. Nearly 11 million people are displaced, whether internally, in neighboring nations or scattered around the world. It is also the world’s largest child displacement crisis, impacting four million children. Some are with family, some entirely on their own.   In Yemen, nine years of war has destroyed huge swaths of the country’s infrastructure and left 17.6 million people, more than half the population, dependent on food aid. Every day, Yemeni families struggle to secure basics like food, clean water, and staples like cooking fuel, soap and other household supplies.   After the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, hostilities around the Red Sea and the recent U.S. designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization are combining to pose new challenges in an already complex region.   The U.S. designation effectively criminalized key transactions necessary for the imports Yemen relies on for 85% of its food, fuel supplies, and almost all medical supplies.   The stress of living under constant pressure to meet their most basic needs, and an estimated 377,000 conflict-related deaths, has meant Yemen also faces a severe mental health crisis.   More than a quarter of Yemenis—over eight million people—suffer from mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. According to surveys by Action Against Hunger and other data, the continuing conflict, forced displacement, deteriorating economic situation, poverty, and food shortages are exacerbating the prevalence of mental health challenges.   Despite the rising death tolls, unimaginable suffering and ongoing violence, these conflicts are largely forgotten. So are countless others. Funding for hunger-related aid is woefully insufficient.   In 2023, only 35% of appeals from countries dealing with crisis levels of hunger were satisfied, according to the Action Against Hunger 2023 Hunger Funding Gap Report.   Ignoring these crises means a terrible cost, both to the people impacted and also to ourselves. Today, the world is so small and interconnected that massive instability anywhere has ripples everywhere.   Of course, the ideal solution is peace. Until then, we need the international community to advocate for safe humanitarian access in conflict zones. We also need greater funding for the most basic of human rights, such as food and access to healthcare. Bringing attention to these forgotten crises is the first step toward both.   That is why we continue to call on the international community and major donors to prioritize the world’s most vulnerable and to dramatically increase funding, especially through investment in locally-led NGOs that focus on gender in their programming.   While emergency aid is essential, we also need funding for long term approaches that build resilience, helping at-risk populations create their own path to a more secure future.   http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/story/conflicts-long-shadow-has-a-name-its-hunger http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/global-impact/story/ Visit the related web page
	Compliance with International Humanitarian Law in armed conflicts is not optional by Laetitia Courtois International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)   (Statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered by Laetitia Courtois, Permanent Observer and Head of Delegation to the UN, to the United Nations General Assembly, 78th session, meeting on the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations).   We meet this year at a time of significant humanitarian challenges, and armed conflict is at the heart of these challenges. Thousands of our colleagues are mobilized in contexts around the world to reach out to those in need and uphold the principle of humanity.   The provision of humanitarian relief by impartial humanitarian organizations is essential to reduce the suffering in armed conflict. This year, we wish to highlight three important issues that continue to affect our operations.   First, compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in armed conflicts is not optional.   We have heard many States echoing this as a political priority: it is now imperative to make it an operational reality.   IHL seeks to limit the humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts. Better respect for IHL means making sure that civilians are never directly targeted, that loss of civilian life and damage to civilian infrastructure are minimized. It means also that violence to life and person, the taking of hostages, and outrages upon personal dignity are prohibited.   Those obligations may not be conditioned on the behavior of one of the parties; IHL must be respected in all circumstances, even if it is violated by the adversary.   Better respect for IHL also leads to better humanitarian outcomes, limits suffering on all sides and preserves a pathway beyond the conflict.   When rhetoric dehumanizing the civilian population associated with the opposing side is amplified, we see significant humanitarian impacts and long-term risks.   Disinformation and misinformation campaigns against humanitarian actors put those trying to help and those who need this help, at direct risk.   In light of the dangerous consequences of dehumanizing language in armed conflict, we urge political and military actors not to resort to or endorse such practices.   Member states have a critical role in the preservation of the humanitarian space, and we ask your support to ensure it is upheld, even in the most polarized crises.   Secondly, ensure better humanitarian access, in particular in urban areas.   The International Committee of the Red Cross has been carrying out neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action since 1863 – for 160 years.   In 1992, the General Assembly adopted a resolution outlining similar ways of working for the United Nations and its implementing partners.   These modalities are key to gain the confidence of the parties to an armed conflict. Assistance must be provided, and solely on the basis of need.   Access and space for impartial humanitarian organizations and their personnel, including experts able to repair essential services and infrastructure may not be unlawfully denied by warring parties.   Today, we are losing precious time in negotiations around the modalities of humanitarian responses, yet it is particularly as crises become more acute that needs are most desperate and thus timely access most critical.   Respecting IHL means ensuring that humanitarian assistance is provided to the civilian population. The parties to a conflict have the primary responsibility to meet the basic needs of the population in areas under their control.   But where they are unable to do so, impartial humanitarian organizations must be able to do their work, including throughout the hostilities, and not just when those have ceased. Without this immediate access, humanitarian consequences will be far greater and more difficult to address.   Under IHL, civilians and civilian objects must be protected against direct attack, including in urban settings. When an attack against a military objective is expected to cause civilian losses greater than the anticipated military advantage, it must be suspended or cancelled. And the parties to an armed conflict must do everything they can to minimize civilian harm.   It is critical that the Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas, the EWIPA Declaration, signed by 83 States, is implemented, in order to see a change in warring behavior.   And we would ask Member States who have not signed it to consider doing so. It is also more essential than ever that states with influence do what they can to ensure better respect by their partners and allies, fulfilling their obligations to both respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions.   Thirdly, understand the limits of humanitarian action.   Humanitarian action is vital, but it cannot be the only answer. We encourage political actors to engage towards political pathways that will ensure life with dignity and development for their peoples. Without that, humanitarian responses quickly reach their limit. Three years ago, we highlighted the fact that we had been in our 10 largest operations an average of 36 years.   We therefore also encourage political and development actors to prevent development reversals, especially when a crisis hits, and find a way to stay engaged in fragile settings.   Ensuring that populations affected by conflict can meet their needs and rebuild their lives in the long run cannot be done solely by humanitarians. Essential public services and systems of entire countries need to be maintained no matter the circumstances.   As conflicts continue to be increasingly protracted and affect a variety of countries, the resources and capacities of the entire aid ecosystem must be harnessed into wider systemic responses to increasingly complex needs in crises.   This is a humanitarian imperative for affected populations which requires action by a variety of actors – and above all a political commitment from states.   Now is the time to redouble diplomatic efforts to put our shared humanitarian values at the center of international cooperation.   Multilateralism matters. International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian principles matter. It is through renewed collective action that we will preserve our common humanity and make a difference in the lives of millions of people affected by armed conflicts and other humanitarian emergencies.   http://www.icrc.org/en/unga78-annual-statement-ihl http://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-president-spoljaric-destruction-despair-should-not-let-us-forget-wars-have-limits Visit the related web page
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