About 40 million Africans face possible starvation this year unless the international community comes up with one billion dollars’ worth of aid, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.
The UN agency said another 200 million people on the continent suffer from chronic hunger.
The agency’s executive director, James Morris, slammed what he called a double standard in the international community for allowing the problem to continue.
”How is it we routinely accept a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa we would never accept in any other part of the world?” he asked. ”We simply cannot let this stand.”
He said the agency needs $1,8-billion to meet emergency food needs in Africa and is currently a billion dollars short.
”We urgently need more funds in the next several months to avert severe hunger among refugees,” he said.
”The mid-February shortfall was $84-million. Some refugees are already receiving only half their monthly food rations.” – Sapa-AFP