hunger

Response to the alert issued last night, by the IPC’s Famine Review Committee, which warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza.

Between 7,000 to as many as 21,000 people are likely dying each day from hunger in countries impacted by conflict, according to a new Oxfam report published on World Food Day.

Starvation is being used as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians, Oxfam said today as it renewed its call for food, water, fuel and other essentials to be allowed to enter.  

Oxfam water engineers are having to drill deeper, more expensive and harder-to-maintain water boreholes used by some of the poorest communities around the world, more often now only to find dry, depleted or polluted reservoirs. 

11 years after the Syrian conflict began, six in ten Syrians do not know where their next meal is coming from, said Oxfam today. It warned that reliance on imports from Russia means the current crisis in Europe could ripple into Syria, exacerbating food shortages and causing food prices to soar. In the last year, food prices in Syria have doubled.

Of the meagre 34 trucks of food and water given permission to enter the North Gaza Governorate over the last 2.5 months, deliberate delays and systematic obstructions by the Israeli military meant that just twelve managed to distribute aid to starving Palestinian civilians. For three of these, once the food and water had been delivered to the school where people were sheltering, it was then cleared and shelled within hours.  

Israel is in the late stages of ethnic cleansing of the North Gaza governorate, Oxfam says. For fifty days, Israel has prevented Oxfam, its partners, and other humanitarian agencies from delivering life-saving aid to thousands of starving people in north Gaza.

Responding to the official launch today of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty proposed by Brazil’s G20 presidency, Oxfam Brazil’s Director of Programs, Advocacy and Campaigns Maitê Gauto said: “The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty could be a turning point in the battle against hunger and extreme poverty. Sharing proven policy solutions like cash transfers and school meals is crucial, but the Alliance must go further still by prioritizing transformative agriculture, racial and gender equity, land rights, and small-scale farming. It must also urgently address the devastating impacts of climate change on food systems in the Global South and confront the weaponization of hunger. Only by embracing these deeper, structural changes can we hope to tackle the root causes of hunger and poverty effectively."

Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average produce more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts.

Oxfam leaders, experts, and partners are joining the UN 79th General Assembly, Summit of the Future, and Climate Action week in New York, hosting and attending events focused on UN Security Council Reform, gender, digital rights, inequality, climate action, and humanitarian issues. They will be urging global leaders to take bold decisions and action as they deliberate on the pressing issues of our time.