Latest news with #World Food Program
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
UN report reveals alarming rise in Africa's food insecurity despite global improvements
Food insecurity is rising in many parts of Africa, with the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet surpassing 1 billion — some two-thirds of the continent's population — in 2024, according to a United Nations report published Monday. The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Africa is more than double the global average of 28%, whereas figures from Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Oceania don't reach that mark, the report said. The annual report, produced by five U.N. agencies, analyzes trends in efforts to achieve the goal of zero hunger around the world by 2030. Those agencies include the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program. An estimated 8.2% of the global population may have faced hunger in 2024, down from 8.5% in 2023 and 8.7% in 2022, a positive trend that 'contrasts with the steady rise in hunger in most subregions of Africa' and in western Asia, or parts of the Middle East and South Asia, the report said. The prevalence of undernourishment, a key measure of progress, surpassed 20% in Africa and rose to 12.7% in western Asia, it said. The report is the latest to suggest that eliminating food insecurity universally remains a serious challenge. Africa remains the most vulnerable continent. According to the current projection, 512 million people in the world may be chronically undernourished in 2030, with nearly 60% of them to be found in Africa, the report said. 'We must urgently reverse this trajectory,' said Máximo Torero, chief economist with the FAO. A major mark of distress is the number of Africans unable to afford a healthy diet. While the global figure fell from 2.76 billion in 2019 to 2.6 billion in 2024, the number increased in Africa from 864 million to just over 1 billion during the same period. That means the vast majority of Africans are unable to eat well on the continent of 1.5 billion people. The U.N. warned in a report in October that conflicts, economic instability and climate shocks — in addition to reduced funding for emergency food and agriculture assistance — were driving alarming levels of acute food insecurity in 22 'hunger hot spots.' That report, by FAO and WFP, mentioned Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali and the Palestinian territories as being of the 'highest concern level.' Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Syria and Yemen were classified as 'hotspots of very high concern,' where large numbers of people faced or were projected to face critical levels of acute food insecurity. Torero, the FAO chief economist, said the situation in Africa is 'concerning,' driven in part by the failure of agricultural production to keep up with population growth in many areas. At the same time, he said, many parts of Africa face violent conflict and setbacks stemming from climate change. 'These shocks interact and reinforce each other, weakening already fragile agrifood systems,' he said, speaking about the latest U.N. report. 'Conflict zones such as Sudan and the Sahel face particularly acute challenges. Additionally, climate poses a serious threat, particularly to the most vulnerable populations.' ___ More AP Africa news:
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
More aid needed to tackle famine-like conditions in Gaza, WFP says
A long-term steady supply of aid is needed to counter the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, UN agencies said on Monday after mounting pressure prompted Israel to ease restrictions in the Palestinian enclave. Israel carried out an air drop and announced a series of measures over the weekend, including daily humanitarian pauses in three areas of Gaza and new safe corridors for aid convoys, after images of starving children alarmed the world. For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page. On Monday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 89 children, most in just the last few weeks. The World Food Program said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched but that this amount fell short of Gaza's needs. 'Sixty is definitely not enough. So our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza,' WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber, told Reuters. The WFP said that almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments. 'I cannot say that in a week we will be able to really avert the risks. It has to be something continuous and scalable,' AbdelJaber said. Looting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said aid supply would be kept up whether Israel was negotiating a ceasefire or fighting in Gaza. The WFP said it has 170,000 metric tons of food in the region, outside Gaza, which would be enough to feed the whole population for the next three months if it gets the clearance to bring into the enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said that over 120 trucks were distributed in Gaza on Sunday by the U.N. and international organizations. But some of those trucks that made it into Gaza were seized by desperate Palestinians, and some by armed looters, witnesses said. 'Currently aid comes for the strong who can race ahead, who can push others and grab a box or a sack of flour. That chaos must be stopped and protection for those trucks must be allowed,' said Emad, 58, who used to own a wood factory in Gaza City. More aid was expected to flow in on Monday. Qatar said in a statement it had sent 49 trucks that arrived in Egypt en route for Gaza. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies into Gaza. Israel cut off aid to Gaza from the start of March in what it said was a means to pressure Hamas into giving up dozens of hostages it still holds, and reopened aid with new restrictions in May. Israel says it abides by international law but must prevent aid from being diverted by militants, and blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's people. 'Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a bald-faced lie. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,' Netanyahu said on Sunday. He added that with the newly announced measures, it was up to the UN to deliver the aid. United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Sunday that some movement restrictions appeared to have been eased by Israel. A senior WFP official said on Sunday that the agency needs quick approvals by Israel for its trucks to move into Gaza if it is to take advantage of the humanitarian pauses in fighting. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's offensive has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, reduced much of the enclave to ruins, and displaced nearly the entire population of more than two million. Indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have broken off with no deal in sight.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Israel Says It Has Paused Some Military Activity in Gaza as Anger Grows Over Hunger
The Israeli military said it had paused military activity in parts of Gaza on Sunday to allow in international aid amid global outrage over the severe hunger faced by Palestinians in the besieged enclave. The decision was a sharp reversal by Israel and followed growing international pressure over the dire conditions in Gaza, where nearly one in three people has not been eating for days on end, according to the United Nations World Food Program. Aid agencies and many countries, including some of Israel's traditional allies, say Israel is responsible for the desperate situation after first blocking and then restricting aid deliveries to Gaza for months. Six Palestinians died of malnutrition-related causes over the past day, including two children, adding to a toll of more than 50 deaths in the past month, according to the Gaza health ministry. Doctors, nurses and medics tasked with caring for Gazans are themselves increasingly struggling to eat, and baby formula is in short supply. Israel has blamed the United Nations and its partners, accusing them of failing to bring hundreds of truckloads of aid through Gaza's border crossings. The United Nations says that while some aid is allowed in, Israel has throw up a maze of bureaucratic obstacles and frequently rejects requests to coordinate deliveries, in addition to other challenges. Israeli officials had also argued for months that Hamas was diverting humanitarian aid. But Israeli military officials later said that they had no proof that Hamas was systematically stealing U.N. relief supplies. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CTV News
21-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
UN food agency says Israeli tanks and snipers opened fire on a crowd seeking aid in Gaza
Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana,File) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The UN food agency accused Israel of using tanks, snipers and other weapons to fire on a crowd of Palestinians seeking food aid, in what the territory's Health Ministry said was one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war. The World Food Program in a statement Sunday condemned the violence that erupted in northern Gaza as Palestinians tried to reach a convoy of trucks carrying food. The Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 80 people were killed in the incident. The Israeli military has said it fired warning shots 'to remove an immediate threat,' but has questioned the death toll reported by the Palestinians. The accusation by a major aid agency that has had generally good working relations with Israel builds on descriptions by witnesses and others, who also said Israel opened fire on the crowd. The bloodshed surrounding aid access highlights the increasingly precarious situation for people in Gaza who have been desperately seeking out food and other assistance, as the war that has roiled the region shows no signs of ending. Israel and Hamas are still engaged in ceasefire talks, but there appears to be no breakthrough and it's not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt. As the talks proceed, the death toll in the war-ravaged territory has climbed to more than 58,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Israel has meanwhile widened its evacuation orders for the territory to include an area that has been somewhat less hard-hit than others, indicating a new battleground may be opening up and squeezing Palestinians into ever tinier stretches of Gaza. WFP condemns violence at food distribution points In northern Gaza on Sunday, the Health Ministry, witnesses and a U.N. official said Israeli forces opened fire toward crowds who tried to get food from a 25-truck convoy that had entered the hard-hit area. The WFP statement, which said the crowd surrounding its convoy 'came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,' backs up those claims. The statement did not specify a death toll, saying only the incident resulted in the loss of 'countless lives.' 'These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation,' it said, adding that the incident occurred despite assurances from Israeli authorities that aid delivery would improve. 'Shootings near humanitarian missions, convoys and food distributions must stop immediately.' Sunday's incident comes as Palestinian access to aid in the territory has been greatly diminished, and seeking that aid has become perilous. A U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid system that has wrested some aid delivery from traditional providers like the U.N. has been wracked by violence and chaos as Palestinians heading toward its aid distribution sides have come under fire. The group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, had said that the majority of the reported violence has not occurred at its sites. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the WFP's claims. Israel has not allowed international media to enter Gaza throughout the war, and the competing claims could not be independently verified. Violence rages on in Gaza Gaza health officials said Monday at least 13 people, including two women and five children, were killed in Israeli strikes since the previous night. At least two people were killed Monday morning when crowds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks were shot at in the area of Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, according to Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza city where the dead were taken. He said Israeli forces had opened fire. An Israeli strike overnight hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, killing at least five people, according to the Health Ministry. The dead include two parents, two of their children and a relative, it said. Other strikes hit tents in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis and a residential building in Gaza City, according to health officials. The Israeli military said it was looking into the various strikes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group operates from populated areas. Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel again struck rebels in Yemen The fighting in Gaza has triggered conflicts elsewhere in region, including between Israel and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have fired missiles and drones at Israel in what they say is in solidarity with Palestinians. The Israeli military said it struck the Hodeidah port in Yemen on Monday morning, saying that the Houthis were rebuilding the port infrastructure. Israel said the Houthis used the port to receive weapons from Iran and launch missiles towards Israel. The Israeli military said it targeted the parts of the port used by the Houthis and accused the Houthis of using civilian infrastructure for militant purposes. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the targets included areas of the port that Israel had destroyed in previous strikes. 'The Houthis will pay heavy prices for launching missiles towards the state of Israel,' Katz said. Israel last struck Hodeidah port two weeks ago. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem. Wafaa Shurafa, Melanie Lidman And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
Washington Post
20-07-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
79 Gazans killed waiting for food after Israeli troops open fire, medics say
Israeli troops killed at least 79 Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health authorities said, after large and desperate crowds mobbed one of the United Nations convoys carrying a trickle of aid into the mostly besieged enclave. The U.N. World Food Program said its 25-truck convoy was mobbed shortly after it passed through the Zikim border crossing from Israel into Gaza. 'Our convoy encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire,' the agency said in a statement. Israel's four-month blockade has left Gazans so bereft of basics like fuel that the bodies of victims from Sunday's mass shooting were often piled onto donkey carts, rather than ambulances, to reach al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 79 people were killed. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it had identified 'a gathering of thousands of Gazans' and fired 'warning shots' to 'remove an immediate threat' to troops. The military did not respond to further questions about the nature of the threat. It has issued similar statements after mass shootings of aid-seekers gathered near distribution sites run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation over the past two months. 'The IDF is aware of the claim regarding casualties in the area, and the details of the incident are still being examined,' the army said. It added that the Gaza Health Ministry's death toll did not 'align' with its own information, but provided no alternative figures. Israel's blockade and military operations have reduced Gaza's 2 million-strong population to near starvation. World Central Kitchen, a U.S.-based nonprofit, said Sunday that its teams had run out of ingredients to cook warm meals. The health ministry said 18 people had died of a lack of food in 24 hours. 'The Israeli Authorities are starving civilians in #Gaza,' the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees said in a post Sunday on X. 'Among them are 1 million children.' On the Al-Jazeera news network, the voice of correspondent Anas al-Sharif cracked as he pointed viewers to an elderly woman who appeared to have fainted from exhaustion as the cameras rolled. 'People are falling down now in the streets of Gaza from extreme hunger,' he said. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza's civil defense force, announced he was going on hunger strike, saying in a video statement that what is happening in Gaza 'is not merely a crisis.' 'It is a documented crime being committed against an entire people,' he said, addressing world leaders. 'You hold the power to stop this crime. History will not forgive those who watch in silence or those who remain complicit.' Reached by phone at al-Shifa Hospital, an eyewitness to the shootings in northern Gaza said she had seen Israeli troops open fire as crowds ran to the aid trucks. Rebhi al-Masri, 30, said her brother-in-law was badly wounded from being shot in the neck and chest. Another relative was shot in the pelvis, and her brother had gone missing in the chaos. 'I have no idea where he is,' she said. 'Everybody started running.' Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, said another nine people were shot near two other aid distribution points or convoys in other areas of the enclave on Sunday. As of July 13, the U.N. had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food in recent months, 674 of whom were killed around Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites. More than 200 others were killed while seeking food 'on the routes of aid convoys or near aid convoys' run by the U.N. or its humanitarian partners, Thameen al-Kheetan, a spokesman, told reporters in Geneva. The U.N. said Friday that Israel had declined to renew the visa for a top U.N. official in Gaza who had criticized the military's shooting of Palestinian aid-seekers. Jonathan Whittall, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, had addressed the spiraling bloodshed in a news conference last month. 'What we are seeing is carnage,' he said. 'It's a death sentence for people just trying to survive.' Israeli media reported Sunday that the Foreign Ministry had viewed the comments as 'biased.' A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment, and the Israeli mission to the U.N. in New York did not immediately respond.
