ICRC expresses concern for the hundreds of millions of people at risk of hunger

July 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed its concern on Tuesday for the hundreds of millions of people who are at risk of hunger at critical levels in the coming months due to the increase in extreme poverty, inequality and food insecurity. , especially in parts of Africa and the Middle East, following disruptions in the food, energy and financial sectors.

“Armed conflicts, political instability, climate shocks and secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have weakened capacities to cope with and recover from shocks. The collateral effects of the armed conflict in Ukraine have worsened a situation that had been yes critical”, warned the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Robert Mardini.

The conflict in Ukraine has contributed to a sharp increase in fuel, fertilizer and food prices globally.

“The situation is urgent, and our time frame is shrinking. Unless we undertake concerted and collaborative initiatives, we risk the humanitarian crisis becoming irreversible and the human cost reaching unthinkable levels,” added Mardini.

These consequences are felt most acutely in places already experiencing humanitarian crises and devastated by decades of war or instability, including countries where the ICRC maintains some of its largest-scale operations, such as Syria, Yemen, Mali, Ethiopia , Somalia and Afghanistan.

Specifically, the agency has stressed that the child population is disproportionately affected by food crises, and that more images of children in a state of malnutrition may appear in the coming weeks.

In Somalia, for example, the number of children under five with severe acute malnutrition and associated medical complications registered in ICRC-run stabilization centers has increased by almost 50 percent compared to the same period last year. past, according to the organization.

Cereal prices in Africa have soared after the fall in exports from Ukraine, a circumstance that deepens the effects of armed conflicts and climate change.

In Yemen, after years of civil war, more than 50 percent of the population — at least 16 million people — is acutely food insecure.

For this reason, the ICRC has called for action in armed conflicts to meet the basic needs of the population, financing to address the food crisis and meet all the needs required to mobilize humanitarian aid.

“We maintain our commitment to respond to these emergencies, but humanitarian actors cannot deal with them alone. All members of the international community have to redouble our collective efforts through action appropriate to the particularities of each case. It is a shared responsibility. There are many lives and much suffering at stake,” Mardini stressed.