G7 leaders |
World leaders must
step up and take action in fighting famine to prevent further
catastrophic levels of hunger and deaths, said Oxfam.
Ahead of the 43rd
G7 summit, Oxfam urged world leaders to urgently address the issue of
famine, currently affecting four countries at unprecedented levels.
"Political failure
has led to these crises - political leadership is needed to resolve
them... the world's most powerful leaders must now act to prevent a
catastrophe happening on their watch," said Oxfam's Executive Director
Winnie Byanyima.
"If G7 leaders were
to travel to any of these four countries, they would see for themselves
how life is becoming impossible for so many people: many are already
dying in pain, from disease and extreme hunger," she continued.
In northeast
Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen, approximately 30 million
people are severely food insecure. Of this figure, 10 million face
emergency and famine conditions, more than the population of G7 member
United Kingdom's capital of London.
After descending
into conflict over three years ago, famine has now been declared in two
South Sudan counties and a third county is at risk if food aid is not
provided.
In Somalia,
conflict alongside prolonged drought - most likely exacerbated by
climate change - has left almost 7 million in need of humanitarian
assistance. Drought has also contributed to cholera outbreaks and
displacement.
Byanyima pointed to the hypocrisy in a "world of plenty" experiencing four famines.
These widespread crises are not confined to the four countries' borders.
According to the UN
Refugee Agency, almost 2 million South Sudanese have fled to
neighboring countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya, making it
the world's fastest growing refugee crisis. Due to the influx of South
Sudanese refugees, the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda is now the
largest in the world, placing a strain on local services.
Escaping hunger and
conflict, Nigerians have sought refuge in the Lake Chad region which
shares its borders with Cameroon, Chad, and Niger only to once again
face high levels of food insecurity and disease outbreaks.
Among the guest invitees to the G7 meeting are the affected nations, including the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Oxfam called on the
G7 countries to provide its fair share of funding. So far, they have
provided 1.7 billion dollars, just under 60 percent of their fair share.
Meanwhile, only 30 percent of a 6.3-billion-dollar UN appeal for all
four countries has been funded. If each G7 country contributed its fair
share, almost half of the appeal would be funded, Oxfam estimates.
In 2015, the G7
committed to lift 500 million people out of hunger and malnutrition.
Oxfam noted that they should thus uphold their commitments and focus on
crisis prevention.
However, some of the G77 nations' actions do not bode well for accelerated action on famine.
For instance, the
U.S. government has proposed significant cuts to foreign assistance,
including a 30 percent decrease in funding for the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). The proposal also includes the
elimination of Title II For Peace, a major USAID food aid program, which
would mean the loss of over 1.7 billion dollars of food assistance.
Former US Foreign
Disaster Assistance chief Jeremy Konyndyk noted that the cuts are
"catastrophic." "So bad I fear I'm misreading it," he added.
International
Rescue Committee's (IRC) President David Miliband highlighted the
importance of continuing U.S. foreign assistance in order to alleviate
humanitarian suffering abroad and protect the interests and security of
the U.S. and its allies.
"Global threats
like Ebola and ISIS grow out of poverty, instability, and bad
governance. Working to counteract these with a forward-leaning foreign
aid policy doesn't just mean saving lives today, but sparing the US and
its allies around the world the much more difficult, expensive work of
combating them tomorrow," he stated.
President Trump
also called for the elimination of the U.S. African Development
Foundation which provides grants to underserved communities in
Sub-Saharan Africa, and has suggested cutting funds to climate change
programs such as the UN's Green Climate Fund which aims to help
vulnerable developing nations combat climate change.
Meanwhile, UK's Prime Minister Theresa May has already abolished its climate change department.
In addition to
scaling up humanitarian funding, G7 nations must commit to fund
longer-term solutions that build resilience and improve food security to
avoid large-scale disasters, Oxfam stated. This includes action on
climate change, "no excuses," said Oxfam.
President Trump is expected to announce whether the U.S. will remain in the Paris climate agreement after the G7 summit.
"History shows that
when donors fail to act on early warnings of potential famine, the
consequence can be a large-scale, devastating loss of life... .now clear
warnings have again been issued," Oxfam stated.
"The international
community have the power to end such failures--if they choose to--by
marshaling international logistics and a humanitarian response network
to work sustainably with existing local systems to prevent famine and
address conflict, governance, and climate change drivers," Oxfam
concluded.
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