UN: "345 Million People Are Starving"... An Unprecedented Emergency

"The main factor driving the rapid increase in displaced populations is conflict"
"The climate crisis is a complex challenge the world will face for decades"

Malnourished Afghan child [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has estimated that the number of people suffering from hunger worldwide will reach a record high of 345 million. This accounts for more than 4% of the global population.

According to the UN, David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, stated at a UN Security Council meeting on the 15th local time that this figure is the highest ever and diagnosed that "the world is facing an unprecedented emergency."

Executive Director Beasley said, "During the pandemic, the number of people facing extreme food insecurity increased by 70 million," adding, "What was once a ripple of hunger has now become a tsunami." The WFP announced that more than 50 million additional people in 45 countries could fall into a hunger crisis in the future.

He pointed out that conflicts occurring around the world are the main factor causing the rapid increase in the hungry population.

Beasley urged the Security Council, saying, "Severe conflicts are pushing millions of innocent civilians into starvation," and requested, "Please exercise humanitarian leadership to break the vicious cycle of conflicts that fuel the food security crisis."

In fact, the civil wars that have continued in the Middle East and Africa in recent years have had a significant impact on the sharp rise in the hungry population.

In Yemen, where the civil war began at the end of 2014 and has continued for over seven years, about 19 million people are facing a severe food crisis, with an estimated 538,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition.

Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who recently visited Somalia, reported, "200,000 people are suffering from famine in Somalia, and this number will reach 300,000 in November."

Another factor worsening the food crisis is extreme weather caused by climate change.

Deputy Secretary-General Griffiths said that countries in the Middle East and Africa, including South Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somalia, are suffering from water shortages due to severe drought.

He emphasized that this climate crisis is a "core security issue" that the world must collectively address from now and for decades to come.

He also urged, "Major greenhouse gas emitting countries have evaded their responsibilities for too long," and called for "an end to these practices."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.