Metro

11.7 million facing acute hunger in Sudan – UN Agency

Published

7 days ago

August 3, 2022

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says 11.7 people in Sudan are currently facing acute hunger and starvation, and requires urgent humanitarian assistance.

The figure painted by the agency in a report on Wednesday, is almost a quarter of the country’s population which is “inching toward starvation” due to a shortage of funding from donor agencies.

The UN report stated that the number of people facing acute hunger between June and July increased by nearly two million, compared to the same period last year.

The UN lamented that its humanitarian response for Sudan in 2022 received only $414.1 million out of a total requirement of $1.94 billion which it said was grossly inadequate to cater for the needs of the starving population.

“The deepening food crisis in Sudan is caused mainly by the county’s fragile economy, prolonged dry spells, reduced areas cultivated and erratic rainfall,” OCHA said, quoting the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

“Starting from July, more than 550,000 refugees received only half of a standard food basket, whether as in-kind food or cash-based transfers,” the report said.

“Most of those suffering from acute hunger are in the capital, Khartoum, the Darfur region and the provinces of Kassala and White Nile, which were the hardest hit by conflict and economic decline,” OCHA said.

The agency reported that around four million children under age five as well as pregnant and nursing women are estimated to be acutely malnourished and in need of humanitarian life-saving nutrition.

Related Topics:Featured Hunger Starvation Sudan United Nations

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Metro

US air strikes targets al-Shabaab Islamists in Somalia

Published

27 mins ago

August 10, 2022

Akanimoh Etim

Several US air strikes have taken out several al-Shabaab commanders and their strongholds in Somalia, according to state media reports on Wednesday.

A statement by Somalia state own media said US military carried out air strikes against the al-Shabaab fighters in the central Hiran region on Tuesday, killing several fighters and their commanders.

The report said the air strikes followed a request from the Somali government following renewed attacks by the rebel group in different parts of the country.

A statement by the US-Africa Command based in the Horn of Africa country said airstrikes in June and July killed seven jihadist fighters flatter an increased in attacks on government targets in recent months by the insurgents.

Metro

Sierra Leone: Parliament passes law to protect locals from land grabs

Published

22 hours ago

August 9, 2022

Ifeoluwa Dada

The parliament in Sierra Leone has passed two laws that is widely believed will boost the rights of rural landowners and women.

The Customary Land Rights Act and the Land Commission Act, both enacted on Monday, will protect against land grabs by big mining and agribusiness firms.

The new laws empower local landowners to negotiate the value of their land with investors and prevent it being leased out without their express consent.

An official of international legal advocacy group, Namati, Eleanor Thompson, said “to our knowledge there is not a legal regime anywhere, in either hemisphere that grants such robust rights to communities facing harm.”

The move is also praised by Gerben Haringsma who is the director of SOCFIN, the biggest agribusiness company in Sierra Leone, called it a “dream of NGOs”.

“Certainly, it will block any investment… It makes things very expensive and we are all prone to enormous blackmail by various communities.” Haringsma remarked.

Sierra Leone has a history of sometimes deadly conflict between local communities and foreign companies that have cleared huge tracts of land for palm oil and sugarcane plantations in recent years.