New York, NY, February 15, 2023 — The International Rescue Committee, World Vision International, and Action Against Hunger are calling for urgent reforms to the international community’s response to famine prevention as nearly one million people are projected to face famine conditions. Reenergizing the UN high-level task force on preventing famine should be a top priority.
Global hunger has reached its highest levels in modern history, in large part due to the lingering effects of COVID-19, recurring climate shocks and conflict in Ukraine that have tipped the scale from crisis to catastrophe in some of the most vulnerable places. There has been a proliferation of international initiatives to address global food insecurity issues related to climate change, food systems, supply chains, and economic development. But what is missing is a robust safety net that kicks in when these efforts falter and a country is headed towards the worst-case scenario of famine. Commendable efforts on wider food insecurity will come too late for people at risk of starvation right now.
Five years ago, the world responded to the threat of ‘four famines,’ mobilizing resources early on to prevent many of the worst outcomes. Despite international commitment to “never again” allow famine, six countries are at the highest risk of famine today: Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, northeast Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Sudan. They include all four countries that were at risk in 2017. Across these six countries, nearly one million people are on the brink of famine, putting them at imminent risk of starvation if urgent action is not taken.[1] This represents a tenfold increase compared to just five years ago. Millions more are already struggling to get enough to eat, leaving families going hungry and children becoming acutely malnourished. In Somalia, deaths have been occurring for months and famine is now imminent without urgent action.
In the twenty-first century, famines are predictable and preventable. The world has robust data and warning systems to identify when famines are coming and the tools to act quickly to prevent them. What is lacking is the political will and resources to do so.
An immediate priority should be reenergizing the UN high-level task force on preventing famine, which was established by the UN Secretary-General in 2021 for precisely this purpose. The task force should narrow its focus to the countries at highest risk of famine, as identified in WFP and FAO’s Hunger Hotspots as those in the highest alert level. In these places, humanitarian aid alone is not enough. The task force should expand to include donors, international financial institutions, NGOs and regional bodies and work closely with affected states and communities to ensure collective commitments to famine prevention and response.
Too often, the international community waits for a formal famine declaration to act. But by then, it is too late and deaths are already occurring en masse. Instead, early warnings should become the catalyst for a no regrets approach. This reformed high-level task force could play a unique role in raising alarm and focusing attention on these crises as soon as the famine risk is identified, leveraging existing data to trigger early responses. The task force should act as a vital decision making forum to develop action plans for famine prevention across its diverse members, mobilize resources and address barriers to response through collective action.
There is still a window of opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of lives. The international community must act now to alter the trajectory of these crises and ensure 2023 is not the year of multiple famines.
Signed by:
- International Rescue Committee
- World Vision International
- Action Against Hunger
[1] The most recent Hunger Hotspots, covering October 2022 to January 2023, warned 970,000 people were projected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC/CH Phase 5) within these states in 2022 if no action was taken. Projections for 2023 show 727,000 people could face famine conditions in Somalia alone.