We Will See Famines of “Biblical Proportions” UN Nobel Agency Warns.
By Eder Leonel Torres
David Beasley, head of the World Food Program has warned world leaders that 2021 may see famines of “biblical proportions”. The Nobel UN Agency emphasised that the Covid-19 pandemic may increase the number of people starving. People living in states engaged in civil wars like Syria, Yemen, and South Sudan are already facing a humanitarian crisis; however, Covid-19 will likely make it worse and increase the number of people dependable on humanitarian assistance. People that were living on the brink of starvation before the pandemic are now facing a crisis, making them most vulnerable. The agency has communicated that “it is getting worse out there[…] our hardest work is yet to come”. Moreover, the pandemic is severely affecting low income states, preventing them from recovering economically and socially. The number of people in need of humanitarian aid transcended to the millions across different areas of the developing world. On the other hand, the world is encountering the threat of terrorism. Terrorism transcends borders as ISIS, for example, has established into different areas of Africa and spread its ideology across the globe.
In parts of West Africa, state authority has been replaced by militias or armed groups. Robert D. Kaplan, in his article “The Coming Anarchy”, writes; “Sierra Leone is a microcosm of what is occurring in West Africa, and much of the underdeveloped world: the withering away of central governments, the rise of tribal and regional domains, the unchecked spread of disease, and the growing pervasiveness of war”. In fact, many people migrate or seek aid for reasons of security, shelter, violence and climate catastrophe. Climate change, Covid-19 and terrorism are the challenges to the post cold war world. 2020 is almost over and in the developing world, people in need of humanitarian assistance is rising to the millions.
