UN food chief urges China to ‘step up now’ and give millions to avert global starvation
- World Food Programme’s David Beasley said the agency is struggling to raise about US$23 billion it needs this year to help an estimated 350 million starving people
- He applauded China for its success in substantially reducing hunger at home, but lamented that it gave WFP just US$11 million last year
Without billions of dollars more to feed millions of hungry people, the world will see mass migration, destabilised countries, and starving children and adults in the next 12 to 18 months, the head of the Nobel Prize-winning UN World Food Programme warned on Friday.
David Beasley praised increased funding from the United States and Germany last year, and urged China, Gulf nations, billionaires and other countries “to step up big time.”
In an interview before he hands the reins of the world’s largest humanitarian organisation to US ambassador Cindy McCain next week, the former South Carolina governor said he’s “extremely worried” that WFP won’t raise about US$23 billion it needs this year to help an estimated 350 million people in 49 countries who desperately need food.
“Right at this stage, I’ll be surprised if we get 40 per cent of it, quite frankly,” he said.
WFP was in a similar crisis last year, he said, but fortunately he was able to convince the US to increase its funding from about US$3.5 billion to US$7.4 billion and Germany to raise its contribution from US$350 million a few years ago to US$1.7 billion, but he doesn’t think they’ll do it again this year.