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William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger.
I just attended a virtual press briefing on the civil war in Sudan. The International Rescue Committee (CARE) and the Norwegian Refugee Council gave an alarming update on the humanitarian crisis.
Over 18 million people in Sudan are facing severe hunger, the worst levels of hunger in its history. The threat of famine looms. Sudan is now the world’s largest displacement crisis with over 8 million people having lost their homes and livelihoods. Imagine losing your house and all your resources suddenly.
Starvation is occurring in Sudan. Relief agencies do not have enough resources to feed the hungry and avert famine.
While listening to the briefing I got a message saying that Congress has reduced funding for the Food for Peace program in the FY 2024 budget. Food for Peace is a critical program for fighting world hunger, and has been since President Dwight Eisenhower started it in 1954.
The United States should be increasing funding for Food for Peace and global food aid, especially with famine looming in Sudan. Refugees from Sudan are fleeing into neighboring countries, including Chad and South Sudan. But these countries are suffering severe hunger as well. There is a huge hunger crisis in that region of Africa.
There are other areas where famine is looming. Gaza is on the brink of famine because of the Israel-Hamas war. Ethiopia, which has suffered from both conflict and drought, is facing massive hunger. In the Horn of Africa, Somalia is also near famine.
Yemen, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and the D.R. Congo are among other nations where hunger is escalating, but there are not enough resources to meet the growing needs. In Haiti, nearly 5 million people, half the population, are suffering in hunger. The World Food Programme says “humanitarian operations in Haiti are woefully underfunded.”
This is clearly the wrong time for Congress to be scaling back food aid programs. Congress also has failed to pass the Ukraine aid package proposed by President Joe Biden, which contained over $9 billion in funding for global humanitarian assistance.
Just imagine if the Congress had not funded hunger relief after World War I or World War II. There would have been mass starvation in Europe and no winning of the peace.
Today, it is conflicts and climate change that are driving the many large humanitarian emergencies. Food can provide a major source of stability during these emergencies. Lack of food can escalate conflict and desperation.
Our global food aid programs are needed more than ever to help calm the storm of hunger.
In Sudan, Save the Children warns that, “Nearly 230,000 children, pregnant women and new mothers could die in the coming months due to hunger unless urgent, life-saving funding is released.”
Think of how many lives can be saved in Sudan if we increased funding for our global food aid programs. Think of what a big difference basic school lunches, like those being provided by Mary’s Meals in Ethiopia, can make to countries suffering in drought and recovering from conflict. These school lunches need to reach many more children worldwide and can do so with more funding.
The charity CARE got its start in response to the biggest humanitarian crisis after World War II.
CARE’s message to Congress today is, “This is not the time for a business-as-usual budget. Foreign assistance saves lives and represents the best of the American spirit. People in crisis cannot wait.”
Everyone can write their representatives in Congress and urge them to put their hearts and minds into funding our programs that fight global hunger.
