Cape Argus

Millions at risk as food aid funds dry up

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THIS year, the UN made one of its boldest requests ever for funding. It needed billions of dollars to fund a humanitari­an response, said secretary-general António Guterres, or as many as 20 million people might starve to death.

Five months later, the results of that appeal are dismal. The UN has raised about a third of its goal and there’s little reason to believe much more is coming.

The funding is for four countries facing massive hunger crises: South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. Of the $6.1 billion (R78bn) requested for those countries, only $2.2bn, or 36%, has been pledged.

In each crisis, aid officials said, the lack of funding has led to a reduction in food assistance for those in need. It remains unclear how many lives have been lost because of the lack of funding.

This month, Guterres warned that a Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes of preventabl­e causes such as conflict, hunger and disease. Unicef (UN Children’s Fund) has said that more than 275 000 children across Somalia are facing severe malnutriti­on. In South Sudan, the UN says 2 800 people are fleeing worsening violence and looming famine every day.

“It means large numbers of people, particular­ly children, will suffer and die,” said Andrea Tamburini, chief executive of Action Against Hunger.

The funding shortfall comes at a particular­ly troubling time, with some regions in the affected countries about to enter the “lean season”, as families exhaust their last reserves from the previous harvest.

Of the four crises, the UN’s biggest shortfalls are in Nigeria, where only 28% of $1.05bn requested has been raised. In Yemen, 23.7% of the $2.1bn appeal has been funded.

That funding gap is already being felt in north-eastern Nigeria, where 1.8 million people need food assistance, many of them living in makeshift displaceme­nt camps in bombed-out cities.

In the absence of funding, the World Food Programme this month had to abandon its plans to feed about 500 000 of the nearly 2 million in need, instead focusing on the most urgent cases.

In Nigeria, the UN has also been unable to provide thousands of people with 15 litres of clean water per day – seen by many in the humanitari­an community as a basic standard for survival.

“This will have an impact in morbidity and mortality, particular­ly for children,” said Samantha Newport, a spokespers­on for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitari­an Affairs.

Raising funds for hunger crises, particular­ly in Africa, is never easy. In 2011, the UN struggled to galvanise donors during a famine in East Africa. In Somalia alone, 260 000 people died during that crisis.

 ?? PICTURE: REUTERS ?? WORST AFFECTED: Women and children queue up to be treated at a Médecins Sans Frontières support clinic in Thaker, South Sudan.
PICTURE: REUTERS WORST AFFECTED: Women and children queue up to be treated at a Médecins Sans Frontières support clinic in Thaker, South Sudan.

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