WFP: Horn of Africa drought worsens, 20 million people at risk of starvation
The United Nations World Food Program said on the 19th local time that due to insufficient precipitation and the stagnation of humanitarian assistance, the drought in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa will further worsen, and 20 million people are expected to face hunger this year.
Currently, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are facing their worst drought since 1981.
The United Nations World Food Programme and the UNHCR recently released a joint communiqué that the number of refugees in East Africa has increased from 1.82 million in 2012 to nearly 5 million in the past decade, with an increase of 300,000 last year alone.
The communiqué also said that as the world grapples with conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as rising food and fuel costs, humanitarian resources are being depleted and food rations are being reduced, driving deeper hunger for millions of displaced families in East Africa. middle.
(Headquarters reporter Ma Peimin)