Day: August 24, 2022

BAGHDAD: The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

Before the coronavirus crisis, 135 million suffered from acute hunger worldwide, said Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s regional director for Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, said. The numbers have climbed since and are expected to soar further because of climate change and conflict.

The impact of environmental challenges is another destabilising factor that can drive food scarcity and lead to conflict and mass migration happening.

“The world just can’t afford this,” Fleischer said. “We see now 10 times more displacement worldwide because of climate change and conflict and of course they are inter-linked. So we are really worried about the compounding effect of COVID, climate change and the war in Ukraine,” she said.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the impact of the Ukraine crisis has had massive repercussions, Fleischer said, underlining both the import dependency of the region and its proximity to the Black Sea.

“Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food needs. And they took about 30 per cent from the Black Sea,” Fleischer said.

The WFP supports 13 million of the 16 million people who are in need of food assistance, but that their assistance only covers half a person’s daily needs because of a lack of funds.

Costs had gone up 45 per cent on average since COVID-19 and Western donors have faced massive economic challenges with the war in Ukraine.

For oil exporting countries such as Iraq, that benefited from the surge in oil prices following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, food security is at risk.

Iraq needs about 5.2 million tonnes of wheat but only produced 2.3 million tonnes of wheat, she said. The rest had to be imported, which cost more.

Despite state support, severe drought and recurring water crises are endangering the livelihood of smallholders all over Iraq, she said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The Horn of Africa is Facing its Worst Drought in More than Four Decades

Communities in the Horn of Africa are facing the threat of starvation following four consecutive failed rainy seasons in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years. The October-December 2020, March-May 2021, October-December 2021 and March-May 2022 seasons were all marred by below-average rainfall, leaving large swathes of Somalia, southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, and northern and eastern Kenya facing the most prolonged drought in recent history. The March-May 2022 rainy season was the driest on record in the last 70 years—making the 2020-2022 surpass the horrific droughts in both 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 in duration and severity—and forecasts indicate that the October-December 2022 rainy season is also likely to fail.

An Unprecedented Emergency is Ravaging Drought-Affected Communities

Across the Horn of Africa, at least 36.1 million people have now been affected by the drought which began in October 2020, including 24.1 million in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia and 4.2 million in Kenya. This represents a significant increase from July 2022 (when an estimated 19.4 million people were affected), reflecting the impact of the drought in additional geographic areas of Ethiopia, as well as the rising needs in Somalia.

At least 20.5 million people are already waking each day to high levels of acute food insecurity and rising malnutrition across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, and this figure could increase to between 23 and 26 million by September 2022, according to the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG). In Somalia, 7.1 million people are now acutely food insecure—including over 213,000 people in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5)—and eight areas of the country are at risk of famine between now and September 2022, with Bay and Bakool regions of particular concern. About 9.9 million people in Ethiopia and some 3.5 million people in Kenya are severely food insecure due to the drought.

Over 8.9 million livestock—which pastoralist families rely upon for sustenance and livelihoods—have died across the region, including 3.5 million in Ethiopia, 2.4 million in Kenya and over 3 million in Somalia, according to the latest FSNWG Drought Special Report. Consequently, children have less access to milk, negatively affecting their nutrition. Across the three countries, malnutrition rates are alarming: about 4.6 million children are acutely malnourished, including about 1.3 million who are severely acutely malnourished. In Ethiopia, nearly 2.2 million children under age 5 are acutely malnourished, including nearly 705,000 who are severely malnourished. In Kenya, about 942,500 children aged 6-59 months are affected by acute malnutrition and need treatment, including 229,000 severely malnourished, and in Somalia, an estimated 1.5 million children under age 5 face acute malnutrition, including 386,400 who are likely to be severely malnourished, according to IPC.

Food prices are spiking in many drought-affected areas, due to a combination of macro-economic challenges, below-average harvests and rising prices for food and fuel on international markets, including as a result of the war in Ukraine. In Somalia, staple food prices in drought-hit areas have surpassed the levels recorded during the 2017 drought and the 2011 famine, according to WFP’s price monitoring. In Ethiopia, the cost of the local food basket increased by more than 33 per cent between January and June 2022, according to WFP. Soaring prices are leaving families unable to afford even basic items and forcing them to sell their hard-earned properties and assets in exchange for food and other lifesaving items. There are also repercussions for food for refugee programmes, which are already impacted by reduced rations due to lack of funding support.

More than 16.2 million people cannot access enough water for drinking, cooking and cleaning across the Horn of Africa, including 8.2 million in Ethiopia, 3.9 million in Somalia and 4.1 million in Kenya, according to UNICEF. Many water points have dried up or diminished in quality, heightening the risk of water-borne diseases and increasing the risk of skin and eye infections as families are forced to ration their water use and prioritize drinking and cooking over hygiene. Existing water deficits have been exacerbated by very high temperatures, which are forecast to continue until at least September 2022. In some of the worst affected areas in Somalia, water prices have spiked by up to 72 per cent since November 2021. Women and girls are having to walk longer distances to access water—in many instances up to double or triple the distances they would have to walk during a regular dry season—exacerbating their potential exposure to gender-based violence and dehydration. Water shortages are also impacting infection prevention and control in health facilities and schools. In Ethiopia and Kenya, there are already reports of an increase in pregnant women being exposed to infections—the worst of which have resulted in death—following deliveries both at home and at health facilities due to the limited availability of water.

An Unprecedented Emergency Is Ravaging Drought-Affected Communities “My livestock perished from lack of water and pasture, and could not survive the harsh drought anymore. It is painful”

Zeinaba, speaking with a UN team in Ethiopia.

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

A senior leader of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition on Wednesday voiced their rejection of a draft constitutional declaration over the transtional in Sudan endorsed by th by the National Consensus Forces (NCF).

On Tuesday, the NCF leaders, including armed groups supporting the military coup, signed political and constitutional documents on how to achive the transition in Sudan and organise general elections. The texts provide to associate the military in the upcoming government.

Babikir Faisal Head of the Executive Office of the Unionist Alliance, and member of the FFC leadership, told a press conference on Wednesday that the former ruling coalition has no formal consultations with the NCF leaders.

He further said they reject their proposed political declaration, which speaks openly about the need for the participation of the military component in the new government due to the fragility of the transitional situation.

“This constitutes an obstacle to any form of dialogue with the forces of revolution, particularly, the FFC that call for a full civil transitional authority,” said Faisal. Also, he pointed to the statements of the army commander-in-chief and the commander of the Rapid Support Force, announcing their unwillingness to participate in the new government.

“So under this conditions, How can a political force come to demand the opposite and insist on their participation in power?”

“We in the Unionist Alliance categorically rejected this matter, as it is rejected by the FFC,” he further stressed.

Faisal went further to say that the NCF’s call for the army’s participation in the transitional government is an “extension” of an initiative recently launched by a Sufi leader calling for inclusive participation of all the political forces including the National Congress Party (NCP) of former President al-Bashir.

“That initiative came under the guidance of the National Congress Party and the remnants of the former regime,” he stressed.

On August 13, religious leader al-Tayeb Aljed held a round table conference in Khartoum, without the participation of the FFC and NCF.

The two-day meeting recommended giving the army wide powers and described it as the highest political authority in the country.

Source: Sudan Tribune

John Godfrey, U.S. first ambassador to Sudan in 25 years, arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday with hopes that he would support a democratic transition and enhance bilateral relations.

In a statement released after his arrival, the U.S. embassy described Ambassador Godfrey as a “senior representative of the U.S. Government”.

He “will work to strengthen relations between the American and Sudanese people and to support their aspirations to freedom, peace, justice, and the transition to democracy,” read the statement.

In addition, the diplomat “looks forward to advancing priorities related to peace and security, economic development, and food security,” further stressed the embassy.

After his arrival in Khartoum, the Ambassador said he would work to strengthen bilateral relations and support a democratic transition in Sudan.

“I look forward to deepening relations between Americans and Sudanese and to supporting the Sudanese people’s aspirations to freedom, peace, justice, and a transition to democracy,” he said in a tweet posted from Khartoum.

On January 26, 2022, the White House announced that President Joe Biden picked John Godfery, a career diplomat, as the first U.S. ambassador to Sudan.

From 2002 until Godfrey’s appointment, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum was headed by a Chargé d’affaires.

In May 2002, Jeffrey Millington took office as the first chargé d’affaires after long years of U.S. absence from Sudan after blacklisting the East African country on the list of state-supporting terrorism in 1993.

Lucy Tamlyn was the last chargé d’affaires serving in Sudan as she left the country days before the arrival of Godfrey.

In 1997, the U.S. administration imposed comprehensive sanctions on Sudan and stiffened them during the Bush administration.

The new ambassador to Sudan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Until recently he served as Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

As he speaks Arabic, he served in Riyadh, Baghdad, Tripoli, and Damascus.

Also, he was the Chief of Staff to then U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns in 2013-14, where they dealt with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the removal from office of President Morsy by the Egyptian army removal and the emergence of ISIS.

Source: Sudan Tribune