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War and conflict

As the West is busy dealing with its own economic woes while cutting off Russian exports, little heed is being paid to those suffering the most, writes Ramzy Baroud. While international news headlines remain largely focused on the war in Ukraine, little attention is given to the horrific consequences of the war...
Agencies forced to cut back aid in Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Ethiopia despite growing need as funds go to Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put huge pressure on an already shrinking pot of international aid. Aid agencies working in countries with the most pressing emergencies, including Yemen,...
The head of the U.N. food agency has warned that 13 million Yemenis are headed for starvation due to a protracted civil conflict and a lack of funding for humanitarian aid. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, David Beasley said that Yemen was “in a very bad situation” with more than 40 percent of...
Just a fraction of the giant amount spent on the world's military - 2,000,000,000,000 US dollars - could meet the UN's major funding appeals for ending starvation and tackling the coronvirus pandemic, writes Baher Kamal for IPS news. While absolutely ready to kill, with the biggest military powers spending in 2020...
Over 50 Nobel laureates across the globe have come together and signed an open letter for all the countries to cut their military spending by 2 percent a year for the next five years. The group has suggested that the money saved should instead be invested in a UN fund to combat pandemics, climate crisis, and extreme...
A total of 274 million people worldwide will need emergency aid and protection in 2022, a 17 per cent increase compared with this year, the UN has reported.  The amount is equivalent to “the world’s fourth most populous country”, Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Affairs chief said at the launch of the 2022 Global...
A “toxic cocktail” comprising the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and “increasingly severe and protracted” violent conflicts is contributing to the reversal of progress in eliminating hunger, according to the 2021 Global Hunger Index. The annual analysis of hunger levels in dozens of countries, released...
11 people are likely dying every minute from hunger, now outpacing COVID-19 fatalities, warns Oxfam. A new Oxfam report says that as many as 11 people are likely dying of hunger and malnutrition each minute. This is more than the current global death rate of COVID-19, which is around seven...
The number of people facing acute food insecurity and needing urgent life and livelihood-saving assistance has hit a five-year high in 2020 in countries beset by food crises, according to the findings of an annual report by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC). Conflict, economic shocks – including due to...
Imagine what could be achieved if just a portion of the money spent on military expenditures were pooled into a global fund, and redirected towards ending hunger and massively investing in public health systems.  If nations held a referendum, asking the public if they want their taxes to go to military weapons that...
The latest figures of rising arms expenditures by some of the big powers makes a mockery of the UN’s longstanding pleas for cutbacks and diversion of funds from the military into sustainable development, writes Thalif Deen for IPS news. The United Nations which is desperately seeking funds to help developing nations...
UK campaigning organisations are urging the government to rethink its military spending decisions in the light of the pandemic and the climate emergency. Figures released today by the world-renowned Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that global military spending in 2020 increased by 2.6%...
Aid organisations call on governments to give a single day’s military spending to fight hunger. Only 26 hours of global military spending is enough to cover the $5.5 billion needed to help most at risk. A year on since the UN warned of “famines of biblical proportions”, rich donors have funded just 5% of the UN...
Acute hunger is set to soar in over 20 countries in the coming months without urgent and scaled-up assistance, warn the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).   Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria top the list and face catastrophic levels of acute hunger, with families in...
People in Yemen face famine unless the world takes immediate action, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Nearly 50,000 people in Yemen are already living in famine-like conditions with 5 million just a step away. David Beasley, WFP’s Executive Director, will press home the organization’s fears for the country...