Global Report on Food Crises 2024 Mid-Year Update by FSIN, FAO, WFP, UNICEF, agencies   5 Sep. 2024   In the Sudan, Famine (IPC Phase 5) is ongoing in the Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) site near El Fasher, North Darfur, and is expected to persist through October 2024. Many other areas throughout the country are at risk of Famine but insufficient data inhibited analysis for many hard-to-reach areas.   In total, 25.6 million people in the Sudan are estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity during the June–September lean season – a 26 percent increase since the same period in 2023. The conflict has also had severe implications for regional food and nutrition security, with more than 2 million people forced to flee to neighbouring countries, mainly to major food-crisis countries including Chad and South Sudan.   The Gaza Strip (Palestine) remains the most severe food crisis in the history of the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), with all 2.2 million residents still in urgent need of food and livelihood assistance between March and April 2024. The severity of the crisis has intensified, with half of the population in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) during this period, up from a quarter in December 2023–February 2024. Although this was projected to decrease to 22 percent in June–September 2024 and available evidence did not indicate Famine (IPC Phase 5), the risk of Famine persists.   Shocks, such as intensifying conflict, El Nino-induced drought and high domestic food prices drove worsening food crises in 18 countries by mid-2024. Nigeria, the Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Chad and Yemen all had at least 1 million more people facing high levels of acute food insecurity than during the 2023 peak.   Forced displacement of people in food-crisis countries/territories continues to increase, with alarming numbers of people in the Gaza Strip and the Sudan exposed to very high levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition.   Acute malnutrition among children and women in food-crisis countries/territories is persistently high, especially in conflict-affected areas. The lack of affordability of a healthy diet is becoming an increasingly important driver.   Of the 14 countries without 2024 data, the Syrian Arab Republic was flagged by the latest FAO-WFP Hunger Hotspots report as being of very high concern between June and October of 2024.   Somewhat better harvests led to some marginal improvements in food security in several countries. Afghanistan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala and Lebanon all had at least 1 million fewer people facing high levels of acute food insecurity since the 2023 peak, but they remain major food crises.   The global report highlights a concerning increase of child wasting, with critical levels in eight countries: Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Haiti, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, and Yemen.   http://www.fsinplatform.org/global-report-food-crises-2024-mid-year-update http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-director-child-nutrition-and-development-victor-aguayos-remarks-global-report http://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity http://www.ipcinfo.org/ Visit the related web page
	Universal social protection is the key to overcoming poverty and inequality by Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors   25 July 2024   The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) participated in the consultations for the UN Summit of the Future taking place on 22-23 September.   My name is Markus Kaltenborn, I am speaking on behalf of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), which comprises more than 130 Non Government Organisations and labour organisations worldwide. Our aim is to support long-term strategies for overcoming extreme poverty and for combating huge social inequalities. In our view, social protection is a key instrument for achieving these goals.   Social protection instruments are social benefits such as cash transfers, which for example benefit families and the elderly, but also social insurance schemes such as public health insurance or pension schemes.   Although social protection is a human right, more than half of the global population has no access to it. On the African continent only 18% of the population are effectively covered by at least one of the basic social protection guarantees.   This is a big problem, mainly because adequate social protection is a prerequisite for the provision of many other important basic needs. Without adequate social protection, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve several goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   In particular, the fight against poverty and the reduction of inequalities within and between societies, but also adequate food supply and health care, regular school attendance for children and the elimination of gender discrimination are goals that are linked to Social Protection.   Some countries have succeeded in generating ade­quate domestic resources to ensure rights-based and sustainably financed social protection systems for the entire population. Other countries, however, do not yet have sufficient financial resources to fully guarantee their population this protection.   It is therefore essential and urgent that the international community supports the system building, rollout and the financing of social protection floors worldwide.   Financial and technical support can, and must be, significantly expanded, otherwise it will not be possible in many parts of the world to achieve some of the key objectives of the 2030 Agenda.   One of our main aims is therefore a well-coordinated global mechanism for the financing of social protection systems, mainly in low-income countries. We hope that, one day, the global community will be able to set up A Global Fund for Social Protection.   In the Draft of the Pact for the Future social protection is mentioned – this is, of course, very good. We hope that this will lead to a more prominent role for this important topic in the future, especially at next year's World Summit for Social Development.   What is not so good, however, is the fact that, unlike in the first version of the draft, it is not emphasized any more that there is a need for universal social protection. But universality is extremely important, because all people, especially the most vulnerable groups, should have access to social protection systems. This should not remain a privilege of individual groups.   It would therefore be important for the text of the Pact of the Future to be adapted in this respect. Universal social protection is the key to overcoming poverty and inequality.   Social security is a human right, and social protection floors underpin successful poverty elimination strategies. Eliminating poverty and the reduction of inequalities within and between societies, adequate food supply and health care, ensuring regular school attendance for children especially girls and the elimination of discrimination against women of all ages and gender inequities related to unpaid care work require the urgent implementation.   Social protection must not remain a privilege of the few linked to formal employment but must be enjoyed by all, first and foremost the chronically poor and those who are most hard to reach.   * The Summit of the Future that will take place on 22-23 September 2024 is a crucial opportunity to forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.   http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2024/07/statement-on-the-importance-of-universal-social-protection-for-the-pact-of-the-future http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2023/12/the-gcspf-written-contribution-to-the-summit-of-the-future/ http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/a-new-era-for-social-protection/ http://socialprotection.org/discover/publications/report-way-forward-resilience-preventing-hunger-and-poverty-rising-result http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/14-billion-children-globally-missing-out-basic-social-protection-according-latest http://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future Visit the related web page
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