(TURKISH JOURNAL) – Pia Bozyel- The United Nations announced that the number of people who faced hunger last year was approximately 735 million.
Prominent UN institutions including Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization jointly published the report titled “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his video message to the launching of the report said, “Overall, we need an intense and immediate global effort to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We must build resilience against the crises and shocks that drive food insecurity – from conflict to climate.”
The report warned that with the effect of the Covid-19 crisis, war in Ukraine and climate change, the situation was further exacerbated. The number of people who faced hunger increased an average of 122 million in comparison to 2019.
Western Asia, the Caribbean and Africa were the areas most hardly hit where one in five people struggled with hunger. This corresponded to twice the global average.
Asia and Latin America were the only two regions witnessing advancements against hunger.
The report also drew attention to the situation of children whereby it was indicated that malnutrition is a major threat to children’s survival.
Drawing a grim picture, the report warned that if current trends continue, the world will not be able to reach its sustainable development goal of “ending world hunger” by 2030.
