Millions of people are teetering on the brink of starvation by World Food Programme (WFP), agencies   20 June 2024   Millions of people are teetering on the brink of starvation as conflict rages across many corners of the world. This year, at least 310 million people are estimated to face acute levels of food insecurity in the 71 countries with WFP operations and where data is available. This number does not yet account for the rapid and alarming deterioration in Sudan, as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis results are not yet available.   Over 37 million people across 47 countries require immediate emergency assistance to save lives. With a further 24.5 million children acutely malnourished undermining their life chances. FAO and WFP have jointly warned that between June and October 2024, acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 18 hunger hotspots. Hotspots of highest concern are Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Palestine and Haiti.   In Palestine, based on an analysis conducted in March 2024, 1.1 million people – half of the population of the Gaza Strip – is expected to fall into IPC Phase 5 (famine) by mid-July. For Sudan, an IPC alert in March called for urgent action to prevent famine, as populations are at risk of facing starvation and total collapse of livelihoods. An updated IPC analysis reflecting the rapid and alarming deterioration is expected to be published in the coming weeks.   In South Sudan, 79,000 people and in Mali, more than 2,500 people are projected to face Catastrophic conditions (IPC/CH Phase 5) this year. In Haiti, already critical levels of acute food insecurity are likely to deteriorate in the coming months, with the risk of catastrophic conditions re-emerging.   While drivers of food insecurity are interlinked, and the impact of economic shocks and natural hazards have grown in importance in recent years, 65% of acutely food insecure people live in fragile or conflict affected contexts. 16 out of 18 hunger hotspot countries at risk of significant deterioration from June to November 2024 have conflict and violence as primary cause, particularly those at the highest alert level, including Mali, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan and Haiti.   Globally, armed violence continues to be on the rise: 2023 saw a 12% increase in conflict compared to 2022, and a 40% increase compared to 2020. The total number of internally displaced people, mainly conflict-induced, grew by over 50% over the past five years. The effects of conflicts are also increasingly spreading beyond borders, causing cross-border population movement and regional spill-over effects.   Conflict continues severely hampering humanitarian access, hindering assistance in reaching those most in need, and often driving up operational costs.   Conflict and instability are compounded by a slowdown of economic growth in emerging markets and developing economies. Many countries worldwide continue struggling with high debt levels – putting at risk investments into protecting their people, especially the most vulnerable.   Food inflation rates continue to be persistently high in dozens of countries, diminishing purchasing power and threatening households’ access to food. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, food prices have at least doubled in 26 countries.   Weather extremes, such as excessive rains, tropical storms, cyclones, flooding, droughts and increased climate variability remain significant drivers of acute food insecurity in some countries and regions.   Southern Africa is facing severe El Nino induced droughts and floods across the region, leading to national disaster declarations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia, and Madagascar. High rainfall and record high Lake Victoria levels will likely expand multi-year flooding in South Sudan's Sudd wetlands from September, lasting until early next year, potentially causing long-term population displacements.   La Nina is expected to prevail from August this year, significantly influencing rainfall distribution and temperatures. If it materialises, La Nina is likely to bring back drought conditions in Somalia, southeastern Ethiopia, and northeastern Kenya during the growing season of October-December this year, and possibly during the season of March to May next year. La Nina also increases the likelihood of an extremely active hurricane season in the Caribbean, a heightened risk of flooding in the Sahel, and dry conditions during the next winter season in Central Asia.   Following a peak in 2022, the current funding landscape is affecting the entire humanitarian sector, forcing WFP – and many others - to scale back assistance and refocus efforts on the most severe needs. As a consequence, nearly all of WFP’s largest operations have reduced or plan to substantially reduce their operational plans.   Less funding means that WFP often has to reduce assistance to already vulnerable people, or abandon assistance to people in Crisis levels of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 3). As a result, there is a real risk they may quickly fall into Emergency (IPC/CH Phase 4) and Catastrophe or Famine (IPC Phase 5) levels.   From January to March, WFP was able to reach 62 million people with food, cash, commodity vouchers, and capacity strengthening. During the same period, WFP assisted 5.4 million children under age 5 and PBWG with programmes to prevent malnutrition and 3.8 million children and PBWG with programmes to aid recovery from malnutrition.   In comparison with the 62 million people assisted by WFP from January to March, 93 million people were assisted during the same period last year. This represents 34% fewer people assisted this year, mainly due to reduced funding levels compounded by access constraints.   Food and cash assistance (CBT) distributed during the same periods imply a 50% decrease in food and 43% decrease in CBT, showing an even larger drop than the drop in beneficiaries assisted. This means that food or cash per ration have been reduced further in 2024’s first quarter compared to the same time last year.   WFP is forced to consider the real risk of spreading its resources too thin. For 2024, WFP has been forced to adjust its plan from 150 million people as shared in the February edition of this report to now 139 million people based on projected needs.   This year, WFP is planning to assist 17 million children under age 5 and pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls (PBWG) with malnutrition prevention activities and 16.3 million children and PBWG with programmes to aid recovery from malnutrition.   Preliminary data for this year suggests that the impact of the funding gap on WFP beneficiaries may be even more severe throughout the year than initially anticipated. WFP monitoring data further highlights the negative consequences of assistance cuts, with rises in malnutrition, early marriage, migration, and child labour, alongside falls in school enrolment. Families are resorting to desperate strategies to cope, such as selling off critical household assets which in turn drive them deeper into poverty and deprivation.   http://reliefweb.int/report/world/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-2024-update-11-june-2024-new-synopsis-format http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots/en http://www.ipcinfo.org/ http://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/hunger-hotspots-report-famine-looms-in-gaza-while-risk-of-starvation-persists-in-sudan--haiti--mali--and-south-sudan/en http://www.fsinplatform.org/report/global-report-food-crises-2024/
	We need an economy based on human rights by Olivier De Schutter Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights   June 2024   Economic growth will bring prosperity to all. This is the mantra that guides the decision-making of the vast majority of politicians, economists and even human rights bodies.   Yet the reality – as detailed in a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council this month – shows that while poverty eradication has historically been promised through the “trickling down” or “redistribution” of wealth, economic growth largely “gushes up” to a privileged few.   In the past four years alone the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes, while nearly 5 billion people have been made poorer. If current trends continue, 575 million people will still be trapped in extreme poverty in 2030 – the deadline set by the world’s governments to eradicate it. Currently, more than 4 billion people have no access whatsoever to social protection.   Hundreds of millions of people are struggling to survive in a world that has never been wealthier; many are driven to exhaustion in poorly paid, often dangerous jobs to satisfy the needs of the elite and to boost corporate profits.   In low-income countries, where significant investment is still required, growth can still serve a useful role. In practice, however, it is often extractive, relying on the exploitation of a cheap workforce and the plundering of natural resources.   The endless quest for growth at all costs, and the escalating use of the natural resources it demands, is pushing our planet way beyond its limits. Six of the nine “planetary boundaries” – Earth’s life-support systems – have already been crossed. For too long, the health of our planet has been sacrificed for inequitable material gain.   Our economies are failing us. We urgently need to look beyond profit, beyond the short term and beyond the interests of the few.   A “human rights economy” can deliver for people and the planet because it shifts our focus from growth to humanity – grounding the purpose of the economy in fundamental, universal human values. It offers human rights as a guardrail to keep the economy on track – meeting the challenges of the climate crisis, addressing inequalities and eradicating poverty.   This proposition is not some fairytale. Concrete steps can be taken now, starting with choosing measures of progress other than gross domestic product (GDP) – which tells us nothing about the ecological or social fallout of economic activity.   And we need to start valuing what really counts. GDP has no way of accounting for the estimated 16.4bn hours spent every day worldwide on unpaid work, largely carried out by women, that underpins the global economy: caring for children, people with disabilities and older citizens.   Unpaid domestic and care work should be remunerated through paid parental and carers’ leave, included in pension calculations, and supported through access to safe water, sanitation, affordable childcare facilities and other essential services.   Financing these services while reducing our dependence on GDP growth is achievable through progressive tax policies such as inheritance and wealth taxes, preventing illegal financial flows and tax evasion, and tackling corruption. More effective international cooperation on tax, debt and social protection is also needed.   This is a major undertaking. The barriers are real: most people have been led to believe that economic growth equals human progress. Yet a growing movement is rallying against our growth-driven economic model: climate activists, workers and trade unions, scientists and academics, young people, environmental and human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples, progressive economists, and activists fighting inequality, gender disparities and colonialism are speaking out.   As world leaders prepare to gather for the Summit of the Future in September – a UN initiative that aims to forge a global consensus around what our future should look like – this groundswell of support for an alternative vision of progress must be embraced. Without a roadmap for a global economy that protects human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, the final document leaders agree in New York will continue to lead us down the path to extinction.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/end-dangerous-fixation-gdp-way-eradicate-global-poverty-un-expert http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5661-eradicating-poverty-beyond-growth-report-special-rapporteur http://www.srpoverty.org/category/latest-news/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/12/moving-beyond-gdp-towards-human-rights-economy http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jul/02/obsession-with-growth-is-enriching-elites-and-killing-the-planet-we-need-an-economy-based-on-human-rights-olivier-de-schutter Visit the related web page
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