As many as 11 people die of hunger every minute across the globe, according to anti-poverty organization Oxfam.
In a report titled ‘The Hunger Virus Multiplies,’ Oxfam said that the death toll from famine outpaces that of COVID-19, which kills around seven people per minute, adding that the number of people facing famine-like conditions around the globe has increased six times over the last year.
“The statistics are staggering, but we must remember that these figures are made up of individual people facing unimaginable suffering. Even one person is too many,” said Oxfam America’s president and CEO Abby Maxman.
The report stated that around 155 million people live at crisis levels arising from food insecurity or worse, which is 20 million more compared to last year.
“Today, unrelenting conflict on top of the COVID-19 economic fallout, and a worsening climate crisis, has pushed more than 520,000 people to the brink of starvation,” said Maxman. “Instead of battling the pandemic, warring parties fought each other, too often landing the last blow to millions already battered by weather disasters and economic shocks.”
The countries identified as the ‘worst hunger hot spots’ include Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Interestingly, all these countries are experiencing conflict.
“Starvation continues to be used as a weapon of war, depriving civilians of food and water and impeding humanitarian relief. People can’t live safely or find food when their markets are being bombed and crops and livestock are destroyed,” said Maxman.
The report observed that the COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, global military spending has increased by $51 billion since its outbreak in March 2020 — an amount that exceeds what the UN requires to stop hunger by at least six times.
