Oxfam: 11 die of hunger per minute

Anti-poverty organisation Oxfam said yesterday that 11 people die of hunger each minute and that the number facing famine-like conditions around the globe has increased six times in the past year. In a report titled The Hunger Virus Multiplies, Oxfam said the death toll from famine outpaces that of Covid-19, which kills around seven people per minute. The humanitarian group also said that 155 million people around the world are now living in crisis levels of food insecurity or worse — some 20 million more than last year. Around twothirds of them face hunger because their country is in military conflict. Despite the pandemic, Oxfam said that global military spending increased by US$51 billion ($74b) during the pandemic — an amount that exceeds by at least six times what the UN needs to stop hunger.