The parsimony of rich governments starves the world’s poor
November 5th, 2009
By Alan Osborn, International News Services
Nature has dealt a string of savage blows to the world’s hungry and poor over the past year or so but just when we might have hoped for rich countries and individuals to help out by digging a bit deeper into their pockets, along comes the economic recession. The crunch may or may not have imposed genuine limits on the cash available to alleviate drought and famine but it has certainly given cautious people a wonderful excuse for doing less, especially after the record food aid donations of 2008.
In fact there’s been a succession of crop-destroying droughts, typhoons, floods and earthquakes in Africa and south-east Asia this year at the very time that needs are greater because of the rise in unemployment and the fall in remittances to home countries from nationals working abroad.
According to Josette Sheeran, the American head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), tens of millions of the world’s poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled because rich countries have slashed aid funding this year. The world could actually lose a generation of children as a result of malnutrition, food riots and political destabilisation, she said. Based on the depleted level of donations so far, the WFP could end the year US$2 billion short. Many funders think the world food crisis is over, Ms Sheeran said recently, “but in 80% of countries food prices are actually higher than one year ago.” The WFP announced recently that because of reduced funding it would begin cutting services – by 50% in drought-stricken Kenya and Somalia and by 80% in Bangladesh – even though according to Oxfam, more than 16,000 children are dying from hunger-related causes every day at present.
And it’s the same story with humanitarian relief generally. The UN has less than half of the US$9.5 billion it needs to carry out humanitarian operations this year.
Who’s to blame and who could help? Citing the economic crisis, the US and the European Union (EU) have made significant reductions in their aid promises to the UN’s humanitarian funds this year. Others, like Saudi Arabia, have far less excuse but that hasn’t stopped them slashing back their UN aid contributions. A pledge of US$20 billion in food aid made by the G8 leading industrialised countries in July could mean the deficit will be reversed next year. If it happens, that will be well worth having, though probably too late to avert widespread death and suffering this year.
Photo – UN Tim McKulka