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Hunger in the news

A daily selection of news reports from the world's media dealing with hunger and responses to it.
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Hunger in the news
29 January 2013

UN: To avoid tensions with refugees, Lebanese hosts need support

Donors channelling funds towards Syrian refugees in Lebanon must also assist their poor Lebanese hosts to diffuse rising tensions, aid workers and a government official said ahead of an international pledging conference for humanitarian aid to Syria and its neighbours. (..) Aid agencies have already tried to tailor their programmes accordingly. Instead of distributing food, for example, the World Food Programme (WFP) gives refugees vouchers to redeem food at local shops with which it has signed contracts.

IRIN News
Hunger in the news
29 January 2013

UN: Syrian Refugees Overwhelm Jordan Camp

The United Nations says the huge influx of Syrian refugees crossing into neighboring Jordan during the past week was larger than anticipated and left its agencies, already suffering from a funding shortfall, reeling under the influx. U.N. officials are crying out for more funding as they rush to build showers, toilets and a school for the newcomers. (..) International donors have pledged less than 3 percent to a $1 billion U.N. appeal made last month to aid the more than 670,000 Syrian refugees estimated to have fled to surrounding countries during the 22-month uprising to topple President Bashar Assad. The U.N. says it hopes a donor conference for Syrian refugees Wednesday in Kuwait will rectify the dire funding situation.

The New York Times / AP
Hunger in the news
29 January 2013

Syrians flee violence in dangerous nighttime trek to Jordan

Most of those who made the journey on this night were women and children. Some had walked for hours, others for days, coming from cities as close as Daraa and as far as Aleppo. (..) Jordan's Border Guard said the border will remain open but that the exodus from southern Syria has severely taxed resources.

CNN
Hunger in the news
27 January 2013

Principles and Practice for Resilience, Food Security and Nutrition

We are at a tipping point in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. The world is becoming a less predictable and more threatening place for the poorest and most vulnerable. As we grow more interconnected, a range of complex risks, including climate change, environmental degradation, population growth, conflict, and food and fuel price volatility, are exacerbating the challenges faced by vulnerable communities. Unless we protect the world's poorest people and empower them to adapt to change and build robust, adaptable and more prosperous livelihoods, we face a future where every shock becomes an opportunity for hunger and poverty to thrive.

Huffington Post
Hunger in the news
25 January 2013

Food shortage crisis in Dadaab refugee camp

For more than a year, following a spate of kidnappings of aid workers, outside journalists have not been able to visit this isolated, arid camp.(..) The World Food Programme relies on donor funds to feed the almost half a million people in Dadaab. But they are almost $40 million short on keeping people fed for the next six months and are contemplating ration cuts in a camp where people currently exist on the bare minimum. Australia has donated two million dollars but it is a drop in the bucket for what is actually needed.

ABC News (Australia)
Hunger in the news
25 January 2013

Davos 2013: water scarcity is 'second most important world risk'

Yesterday, Ban Ki-moon, secretary general at the United Nations, reminded presidents, business leaders and NGOs at a meeting in Davos that "most of us do not appreciate water. We just take it for granted. Someone with a lavish life, we say he is spending money like water." (..) The problem with finding solutions is that many developing countries have little idea of how to address the problem, and are not able to measure rainfall patterns or water usage.
The Guardian
Hunger in the news
25 January 2013

Life turns bittersweet for the people of Damascus

As the peaceful uprisings that began in March 2011 morphed into a devastating civil war, once self-indulgent Damascus residents found themselves trading their sweets for basic groceries and heating fuel, whose prices have skyrocketed. (..) On Friday, the authorities raised the price of diesel by 40 percent per liter to 35 Syrian pounds ($0.49). In the freezing winter, its value on the black market has shot up to 115 pounds ($1.62) a liter. (..) Like its pastries, the spirit of the capital has waned. Scores of factories have closed, electricity is in short supply and residents shiver at home because of a lack of heating oil.
AFP/ Now
Hunger in the news
25 January 2013

Syria conflict: UN says refugee crisis in Jordan 'critical'

The UN says there has been a huge leap in the numbers of Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan, putting a considerable strain on resources. A UN official told the BBC that up to 3,000 were arriving every day and at least 50,000 were waiting to cross. UNHCR says there are now more than 670,000 registered Syrian refugees and people awaiting registration in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.

BBC News
Hunger in the news
25 January 2013

ECHO: Mali crisis – additional €20 million to respond to worsening humanitarian situation

22/01/2013 – Commissioner Georgieva today announced the mobilisation of an additional €20 million for Mali as the worsening crisis requires immediate relief for the people fleeing the conflict and for the growing number of severely malnourished children. These children, approximately 100.000 refugees from Mali in neighbouring countries, and 150.000 people displaced inside Mali who require access to basic food and services will be aided through this new funding.
ECHO
25 January 2013

What next for Mali?

The fact that so much has changed in Mali since I was here last month only goes to prove what an unstable world it is. Admittedly, the warning signals were there back in December and by the time I boarded the plane at Bamako to fly back to Europe I grew more and more concerned that we weren’t preparing sufficiently for the hard times to come.

By Kristalina Georgieva

European Commission

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