Africans starve while the world watches Ukraine

by Rebecca Paveley, Church Times

HUMANITARIAN organisations have warned that the huge response to the war in Ukraine is overshadowing other crises around the world that are in need of urgent attention. Charities and NGOs have begun urging governments and individuals not to forget the millions who are suffering in other countries.

The United Nations has warned that the situation in Somalia, where 4.5 million people are at risk of starvation owing to the worst drought in a decade, is deteriorating rapidly. The focus of the international community on Ukraine was sucking all the oxygen out of the room, Adam Abdelmoula, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said last week…

…Church leaders in Africa have described how the war is already affecting food security — 40 per cent of Ukraine’s wheat and maize is exported to the Middle East and Africa. The poorest are the most affected as market prices rise. Russia is also the world’s largest producer of fertiliser.

See also:

Growing risk of Somalia famine, as drought impact worsens, from UN News

War in Ukraine Compounds Hunger in East Africa, from New York Times