The United Nations has spoken stating that the war in Ukraine will affect 1.6 billion people globally. The war will cause hunger and destitution.
The UN Chief, Antonio Guterres, said this on June 8 while presenting the UN’s second report on the repercussions of the Ukraine war.
“The war’s impact on food security, energy and finance is systemic, severe, and speeding up,”
He added that “for people around the world, the war is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake.”
Antonio Guterres stated that while this year’s food crisis is “about lack of access,” next year’s “could be about lack of food.”
“There is only one way to stop this gathering storm: the Russian invasion of Ukraine must end,” he urged the warring parties in a speech.
The report also reveals that an excess of 58 million more Africans are likely to fall into poverty this year.
Extreme poverty in the Middle East and North Africa is expected to increase by 2.8 million people in 2022.
The UN Chief stated that he had asked colleagues to help find “a package deal that allows for the safe and secure export of Ukrainian-produced food through the Black Sea.”
“This deal is essential for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries, including in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Antonio Guterres.
According to diplomat Rebeca Grynspan, approximately 94 countries which is home to 1.6 billion people are “severely exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis and unable to cope with it.”
“Out of the 1.6 billion, 1.2 billion or three quarters live in ‘perfect-storm’ countries that are severely exposed and vulnerable to all three dimensions of finance, food, and energy, simultaneously,” it adds.
The report reveals that the number of food insecure people may rise by 47 million in 2022 and that number may reach 323 million people by the end of the year.
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