MORE than 20million are set to starve to death amid the biggest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945, the organisation’s humanitarian has warned.
Stephen O’Brien told the UN Security Council that “without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death” and “many more will suffer and die from disease”.
O’Brien begged for cash to help people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and North-east Nigeria “to avert a catastrophe.”
He said: “To be precise, we need $4.4billion (£3.6billion) by July.”
Without a major injection of funds, he said “livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost”.
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O’Brien said: “Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations.
“Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine.”
O’Brien said the largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen where two-thirds of the 18.8million people need aid.
The Arab world’s poorest nation is bogged down in a brutal conflict and O’Brien said more than 48,000 people fled fighting just in the past two months.
After visiting South Sudan, the UN humanitarian chief said “the situation is worse than it has ever been” after a three-year civil war.
He said: “The famine in South Sudan is man-made. Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine as are those not intervening to make the violence stop.”
O’Brien said more than 7.5million people need aid –1.4million more than last year – with around 3.4million South Sudanese displaced by the fighting.
In Somalia, which O’Brien also visited, more than half the 6.2million population need humanitarian assistance and protection – including 2.9million who are at risk of famine and require immediate help “to save or sustain their lives”.
He warned that almost a million children under the age of five will be “acutely malnourished” this year.
O’Brien said situation mirrors “the tragic picture of 2011 when Somalia last suffered a famine.”
But he added that the UN’s humanitarian partners have a larger footprint, better controls on resources, and a stronger partnership with the new government.
The humanitarian boss said: “To be clear, we can avert a famine.
“We’re ready despite incredible risk and danger … but we need those huge funds now.”
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