World leaders call for urgent action to ensure food security

In his speech, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that there is no peace when there is hunger and it is impossible to fight hunger when there is no peace. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that food security remains a particularly urgent issue despite the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations pledging $5 billion for this goal at a summit in Germany in June. According to the German leader, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is part of the cause and promotion of a global multidimensional crisis. Countries in the southern hemisphere are the most affected.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will sponsor a ship carrying Ukrainian flour to Somalia, a country facing famine. US President Joe Biden is expected to announce a new US food aid package in his speech at the UN General Assembly on September 21.

In a joint report in July, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that in 2021, between 702 million and 828 million people, or 9.8% of the world's population, were affected by hunger. This is an increase of 46 million people compared to 2020 and 150 million people compared to 2019, showing the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world's food "storehouse".

In a recent statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres affirmed that the world will have enough food by 2022, but the challenge now is distribution. If the situation does not stabilize this year, the world is "realistically" at risk of food shortages by 2023.

According to VNA