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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider UN warns of world hunger

UN warns of world hunger

By Xinhua
Published Jul 15, 2020 07:15 am

130 million more may go hungry by end of 2020 due to COVID-19

UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that many more people could slip into hunger this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Photo by MICHAEL TEWELDE / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)

He sounded the alarm in a video message on the launch of “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020” report, which says almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019, up by 10 million from 2018, and by nearly 60 million in five years. 

“This year's State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report sends a sobering message. In much of the world, hunger remains deeply entrenched and is rising,” said Guterres in the video message. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is making things even worse. Many more people could slip into hunger this year, he said. 

“The report is clear: if the current trend continues, we will not achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 – zero hunger – by 2030.” 

Guterres said transformation can begin now. Investments in COVID-19 response and recovery need to help deliver on the longer-term goal of a more inclusive and sustainable world. 

“We must make food systems more sustainable, resilient and inclusive – for people and the planet.” He said he will convene a Food Systems Summit next year. 

“We must make healthy diets affordable and accessible for everyone.” 

The report, released Monday by the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), estimated that nearly 690 million people went hungry in 2019, an increase of 10 million compared with 2018 and up by nearly 60 million from five years earlier. 

The report did not cover 2020, citing preliminary information as showing that the global coronavirus outbreak is “intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems.” 130 M more may go hungry Because of the pandemic, the report said, the number of hungry people in the world could increase by an additional 130 million by the end of this year. 

The report said the worsening trend pushes the world “off-track to achieve the objective” of ending “hunger, food insecurity, and all forms of malnutrition” by 2030. 

Those goals were part of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed on by UN members in 2015. 

The report said the decrease in poverty in China, which it called the "single largest factor" in the reduction of global hunger over the last decade, continued but was offset by conditions in other parts of the world. 

The comprehensive food security and nutrition report was produced by FAO in collaboration with four other UN entities: the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Program (WFP) – like FAO, IFAD and WFP are based in Rome – as well as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), based in New York, and the World Health Organization (WHO), based in Geneva.

FAO is headed by Qu Dongyu, who had served as China's Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. 

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