War, Covid, and climate change fuel hunger crisis, killing 11 people per minute
Children are seen eating food provided by NGOs and social organizations after a fire broke out in a refugee camp in Ukia, southeastern Cox’s Bazar district on March 24, 2021.
London — According to a new Oxfam report released Friday, the number of people dying from hunger has increased six-fold over the past year, surpassing the number of Covid-19 deaths.
As many as 11 people die from hunger and malnutrition every minute as the proportion of people suffering from famine-like conditions has skyrocketed since the onset of the pandemic, in a paper entitled “The Starvation Virus Proliferates” by a global charity. Said that.
By comparison, an estimated 7 people die from Covid-19 every minute.
The main cause of extreme hunger
Wars and conflicts remain the leading cause of hunger, accounting for two-thirds of the world’s hunger-related deaths. However, the coronavirus pandemic and the onset of economic shock as a result of Covid-19, and the worsening climate crisis, have driven tens of millions of people to starvation, the report said.
Global food prices have also skyrocketed by 40%, the highest in more than a decade, according to the report.
“Statistics are staggering, but it’s important to remember that these numbers are made up of individual people facing unimaginable suffering. There are too many,” said Oxfam America’s President and CEO. CEO Abbey Maxman said.
Relatives pray during the last rites of the Covid-19 victims at the crematorium.
Oxfam has listed war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen as the worst hunger hotspots in the world.
“Hunger continues to be used as a weapon of war, robbing civilians of food and water and hindering humanitarian relief,” Max Man said. “When markets are bombed and crops and livestock are destroyed, people cannot live safely or find food.”