The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stresses that millions of people need help and that the world’s attention is too little as a result of the war in Ukraine and other crises that make headlines.
– This disaster passed unnoticed. Millions of families are starving and children are dying from malnutrition, said Dominik Stillhart, who heads the ICRC’s global operations.
The famine has affected a region that stretches from Somalia and Ethiopia in the east to Mauritania and Burkina Faso in the west. Some 346 million people, more than one in four in Africa, are affected by the nagging famine, and the number is likely to rise in the coming months, according to the ICRC.
The war in Ukraine has also contributed to rising prices for both food and fuel, in addition to problems with supply lines, which in turn amplifies the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and many shutdowns, the ICRC said.
The organization had planned to spend 1 billion euros on emergency aid to Africa this year, but was short of 800 million euros, which is 80 percent.
– We’re increasing our operations to help as many people as possible, but the number of people lacking food and water is unimaginable, says Stillhart.
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