The world hunger index was published in Berlin on Thursday.
It reveals terrible numbers, according to which the hungry has increased by more than 120 million worldwide since 2019.
Berlin - Armed conflicts and the consequences of climate change * have exacerbated hunger in the world again in the past year.
Around 811 million people around the world are now starving, compared to 690 million people in 2019, according to the 2021 World Hunger Index published in Berlin on Thursday.
“That confirmed our worst fears last year,” said Marlehn Thieme, President of Welthungerhilfe. The organization stated: "The world has strayed off course in fighting hunger and is moving further and further away from the binding goal of defeating hunger by 2030." The corona pandemic * has also made the situation worse.
The new global hunger index examines the food situation in 128 countries and confirms "the clear setbacks in the fight against hunger".
According to this, 47 countries will not even reach a low level of hunger by 2030, 28 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The situation is particularly dramatic in Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan *, Madagascar and South Sudan.
In Somalia - at the bottom of the list - 60 percent of the people are malnourished and live in a state without food security.
Hunger in the world is increasing: "Crises keep the number rising"
Four criteria are examined for the index: The proportion of the population that is undernourished.
The proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from emaciation and the associated underweight.
The proportion of children under the age of five who are stunted in growth due to malnutrition.
And child mortality.
“Unfortunately, our fears last year have been confirmed.
Famines are back and multiple crises are causing the number of starving people to continue to rise, ”said Thieme.
“The corona pandemic * has exacerbated the tense food situation in many countries in the South and millions of families have lost their livelihoods.
The biggest hunger drivers, however, remain conflicts and climate change. "
Welthungerhilfe with terrifying figures: the crisis in Afghanistan is coming to a head
Afghanistan is one of the countries in which the population is particularly at risk. The militant Islamist Taliban * took power there after NATO ended its operation there after almost 20 years at the urging of the USA. In Afghanistan, more than half of the population depends on humanitarian aid and every third person goes to bed hungry every day, said Mathias Mogge, Secretary General of Welthungerhilfe. "Decades of civil war, corruption, droughts and floods as a result of climate change and the effects of the corona pandemic * have led Afghanistan to the brink," he said. Welthungerhilfe continues its work under difficult conditions.
The deployment of German soldiers and development workers in Afghanistan had cost more than 17.3 billion euros in the past 20 years.
The military made up by far the largest post.
The Foreign Office spent around 2.48 billion euros on so-called project-related personnel and material costs.
The development ministry provided around 2.46 billion euros in Afghanistan within 20 years.
Furthermore, emergency aid should be provided.
The start of development cooperation depends on how the Taliban behave.
Video: Welthungerhilfe: "Corona has mutated into a hunger virus"
"The political demands that we associate with this year's global hunger index are: We need integrated, flexible, cross-sectoral and multi-year financial support," said Mogge about the global commitment.
“And we have to recognize that nutrition and peace go hand in hand.” (Dpa / fmü) *
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