Diplomats will meet at U.N. headquarters next week seeking to help 281.6 million people worldwide who faced high levels of acute hunger last year.
The high-level roundtable next Monday will address the findings of a new report from the Global Network Against Food Crises and Food Security Information Network on Wednesday.
The report is produced in collaboration with United Nations agencies, the European Union, U.S. Agency for International Development and regional and multinational organizations.
Representatives of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program will join the roundtable co-sponsored by the Group of Seven, Group of 20, and Group of 77.
'A roll call of human failings'
The number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity has increased every year since 2019, according to the 198-page report. More than 80% of the 577,000 people facing imminent famine are in Gaza.
Last week, the U.N. appealed for US$2.8 billion to provide aid to some 3 million Palestinians and emphasized Gaza badly needs food, water, and other basic items.
The highest numbers were found in Congo, Nigeria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar.
The new report is "a roll call of human failings. In a world of plenty, children are starving to death," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres wrote in the report's foreword. He blamed "war, climate chaos and a cost-of-living crisis – combined with inadequate action."
