Mankind will face widespread hunger if measures to ensure food security are not taken. This was stated by Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), David Beasley.“If we do not prepare and take action now, then we may face a famine of biblical proportions in a few months,” he emphasized.
According to Beasley, peace must be secured first. Participants in hostilities must be given unhindered access to humanitarian assistance to people in need. In addition, he added, it is necessary to invest $ 350 million in the creation of a network of logistics centers, thanks to which humanitarian aid will be provided throughout the world. “Time is not on our side, so let's act wisely and quickly,” Beasley added.
He also noted that 300 thousand people will die of hunger every day - if the UN does not provide the necessary support. Hunger can reach about 30 countries. The situation is aggravated not only by coronavirus, but also by the collapse of oil prices, financial losses in the tourism sector, job cuts, and a drop in the income of labor migrants.
The UN notes that the number of hungry people in the world by the end of 2020 could reach 265 million people. Thus, hunger will reach twice as many people as it did last year.The spread of coronavirus only adds to existing negative factors — wars, climate change, and the economic crisis, according to a WFP report. “The COVID-19 pandemic could be disastrous for millions of people whose lives are already hanging by a thread. These are people who can only eat if they manage to make a living that day, ”said Arif Hussein, leading WFP economist.
Moreover, it is not just about food shortages, but about hunger that threatens people's lives. The number of chronically undernourished people in the world is high. More than 100 million starving people live in Africa, 43 million in the Middle East and Asia, and 18.5 million of such people in Latin America.
On April 13 UNreported that in Ethiopia, locusts destroyed 200 thousand hectares of crops, which is why about a million people are at risk of hunger. The report emphasizes that in addition to financial assistance, people need seeds and fertilizers. It is noted that insects destroyed crops of sorghum, wheat and corn. The situation is aggravated by the crisis caused by the coronavirus.On January 23, even before the official recognition of the situation with the coronavirus pandemic, UN Secretary General AntoniuGuterres listed the main factors that threaten the existence of the modern world. He called them the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
Guterres made a corresponding statement, speaking at the UN General Assembly with a report on the results of the work of the world organization in 2019 and the tasks for 2020.“Our world is approaching a point of no return. I see four horsemen. The first rider appears in the guise of the highest geopolitical tension, ”he said. Guterres emphasized that because of the tension in the world, more and more people are dying in terrorist acts, the nuclear threat to all mankind is expanding and growing. In addition, more and more people are forced to flee from their native places than ever since the Second World War.
The second rider of the Apocalypse is the “existential climate crisis”, the UN Secretary General noted. According to him, all over the world the average temperature continues to break records, and millions of species of living things in the near future may be on the verge of extinction. “Our planet is in fire,” he emphasized.The third horseman is the growth of distrust of each other around the world. Inequality is growing, trust in political institutions is falling, women are demanding equality of rights and freedom from violence.
Finally, the fourth rider of the Apocalypse is unconscious technological progress, its “dark side”. Guterres emphasized that new technologies have “enormous benefits,” but they are abused “for committing crimes, inciting hatred, spreading fakes, oppressing people, and violating privacy.”
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