Toronto, April 20: In an open letter addressed to world leaders today, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies consisting of more than 250 NGOs have urgently called to increase aid and save more than 34 million people on the brink of starvation this year. They said up to 270 million people are acutely food insecure with millions “teetering on the very edge of famine”.
They explained that, the combined impacts of conflict, climate change and inequality, coupled with the COVID-19 crisis, have led to an acute food insecurity situation around the world. More than 34 million people are teetering on the very edge of famine and the slightest shock will push them over into famine without urgent, immediate life-saving action. Already, 155,000 people are living in famine or famine-likely conditions in Yemen, South Sudan and Burkina Faso.
According to the estimation of World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 2021, it said, at least $5.5 billion is needed in urgent food and agricultural assistance to avert this imminent risk of famine, and millions more is needed to provide health care, clean water and other essential, basic services. This cannot be achieved unless bilateral donors recommit to scaling-up aid to save lives.
However, in stark contrast to the situation at hand, global attention and funding for famine mitigation and prevention has been dwindling. Funding alone is not sufficient. Action must be taken to end conflicts and ensure humanitarian access. The situation requires urgent action, at a scale we are simply not seeing. If no urgent action is taken, lives will be lost. The responsibility to address this lies with countries. All countries must address rising inequality, take the political actions needed to stop conflict, which is a main driver of hunger and barrier to meeting needs. They must provide resources to meet needs today and prevent increasing need tomorrow. This necessitates that they join forces to ring the alarm bells by showcasing the need on the ground through all available channels.
For such, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies stated that, it is imperative for them to raise collective voices to secure the international attention this cause deserves before it is too late. They seek support in three ways. Firstly, all donor governments should urgently respond to the current need and save lives, today and in the future. Secondly, all local, national or international NGO partners must work directly with communities in support. Lastly, take action through advocacy efforts at national and global levels to draw urgent attention to the scale of human suffering due to acute food shortages.
