Corona virus: Five countries facing 'famine epidemic'

[asma zahid]

Amid rising deaths from the corona virus worldwide, the World Food Program (WFP) has warned that the world could face a “global hunger pandemic” as the number of people suffering from malnutrition could double this year.

According to the World Food Program, at the end of 2019, 135 million people worldwide were facing ‘severe hunger’, and now that most countries around the world are facing lockdowns, that number has risen to 265 million this year. Will go

David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, said: "Even before the Corona virus was raised, for a number of reasons, I have been saying that 2020 will be the year after World War II with the worst humanitarian crisis. May face.

In 2019, the amount of aid received by the World Food Program was 3 8.3 billion. This year, the company will need 10 to 12 billion dollars to run its operations.
Yemen
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Even before the war broke out in Yemen, it was the poorest country in the Arab world.

But operations by the Saudi-led military coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2015 have exacerbated the country’s already existing humanitarian crisis.

Arif Hussain, chief economist at the World Food Program, told the BBC: "As the conflict drags on, more and more people are being affected. In 2016, we were providing assistance to 3 to 4 million people in Yemen. That number has now reached 12 million.

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According to the World Food Program (WFP), the situation worsened when aid to Houthi rebel-held areas was cut off due to concerns from several countries.

These countries said that the Houthis were obstructing the delivery of aid to their territories.

Earlier this month, the first confirmed case of corona virus was reported in Yemen. Aid agencies have warned that the epidemic will soon overwhelm Yemen’s fragile health system.
Republic of the Congo
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Various parts of the Congo have been plagued by armed conflict for the past 25 years, and according to the World Health Organization, it is facing the world’s second-largest hunger crisis.

Fifteen percent of Congo’s population is classified as “severely food insecure”. This means that these people are among the 30 million people around the world who live directly in war zones and are completely dependent on aid.

According to Arif Hussain, these people need at least ارب 2 billion to arrange food deliveries for the next three months.

“These are the people who have been badly affected and now (after Corona) they are suffering more,” he said.

In addition to these people, there are 5 million refugees and 500,000 refugees from neighboring countries in Congo.

In addition to the risks to everyone living in war-torn areas, homeless people are at even greater risk of contracting the corona virus because they often need basic hygiene to help prevent the spread of disease. They are also deprived of facilities.

Earlier this month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that the ongoing conflict in the Congo was hampering efforts to control the corona virus. The Corona epidemic has so far affected the Congolese capital.
Venezuela
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Unlike other countries on the list, the problem of hunger in Venezuela is not due to any war or environmental reasons but due to economic difficulties.

Although Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, inflation rose to 200 percent in January last year, leaving one-third of the country’s population in need of foreign aid.

According to the World Food Program, these problems were exacerbated by the mass exodus of health workers from the country.

And the list of problems doesn’t end there. About 15 percent of Venezuela’s population, or 4.8 million people, have emigrated to neighboring countries in the past few years, and many of them suffer from malnutrition in neighboring countries.
South Sudan
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South Sudan came into being in 2011 when it gained independence from its northern neighbor.

One of the goals of gaining independence was to end the country’s years-long civil war, but just two years after gaining independence, South Sudan fell victim to a fierce armed conflict.

The World Food Program (WFP) has warned that hunger and malnutrition in South Sudan have been at an all-time high since 2011, with about 60 percent of the country’s population struggling to find food every day.

The situation took a turn for the worse when locusts turned to South Sudan after destroying crops in East Africa this year.

According to Arif Hussain, “Even if the corona virus is not a problem here, the desert locust is a big story.”

South Sudan is heavily dependent on oil and will be hit hard by falling oil prices.

According to Johns Hopkins University in the United States, there are only four cases of corona virus in South Sudan.
Afghanistan
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Afghanistan is another war-torn country that has been at war for the past two decades.

The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001