Musings From Abroad

55 million people facing severe hunger in West and Central Africa— UN

Published

8 months ago

April 13, 2024

A food crisis has been made worse by rising prices in West and Central Africa. In the next few months, nearly 55 million people will have trouble feeding themselves, according to a warning from the United Nations relief groups on Friday.

The groups said that the number of people going hungry during the June–August lean season had quadrupled in the last five years. They further claimed that economic problems like double-digit inflation and stagnant local production were major causes of the crisis, along with ongoing battles in the region.

A joint statement from the World Food Program, UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization said that Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Mali are among the countries most severely affected. In the north of these countries, about 2,600 people are expected to die of extreme hunger.

“The time to act is now. We need all partners to step up … to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” said Margot Vandervelden, WFP’s acting regional director for West Africa.

Malnutrition is very high because of a lack of food, according to the agencies. They say that 16.7 million children under five years old are severely malnourished across West and Central Africa.

Food supplies have made things harder, especially for countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone which are already dealing with high inflation.

“To respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition insecurity,” said Robert Guei, the FAO’s Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa, policies should be put in place to increase and diversify local food production.

Musings From Abroad

EU withdraws Niger diplomat after junta accuses it of mismanaging aid

Published

49 minutes ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has announced that the European Union would return its ambassador from Niger after the governing military in the nation questioned how an EU team handled humanitarian supplies intended for flood victims.

In a statement released on Friday, the junta in Niger accused the EU ambassador in the West African nation of distributing a 1.3 million euro flood relief grant to many foreign nongovernmental organisations in an opaque way and without working with the government.

Consequently, it mandated an audit of the fund’s administration.

“The European Union expresses its profound disagreement with the allegations and justifications put forward by the transitional authorities,” the EEAS said.

“Consequently, the EU has decided to recall its ambassador from Niamey for consultations in Brussels.”

Niger has been under military rule since the junta seized power in a 2023 coup.

Musings From Abroad

Mpox remains health emergency, WHO insists

Published

2 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has insisted that the Mpox epidemic remains a public health emergency.

WHO first declared an emergency when a new strain of mpox spread from the severely affected Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighbouring countries in August.

The WHO Director-General has decided that the increase in mpox still qualifies as a public health emergency of worldwide significance after the WHO called a meeting of its Emergency Committee and followed its recommendations.

According to WHO, the decision was made in light of the growing number and ongoing geographic dispersion of cases, field operating difficulties, and the requirement to establish and maintain a coordinated response across nations and partners.

Mpox is a virus that is spread by close contact and usually manifests as pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms. Although it is typically minor, it can be fatal.

More than 1,000 suspected deaths and more than 46,000 suspected cases have been reported this year throughout Africa, primarily in Congo.

The WHO’s highest level of warning, known as a “public health emergency of international concern,” was previously used to describe a worldwide epidemic of a different type of mpox in 2022–2023.

This year’s notice was issued in response to the transmission of a novel viral variation known as clade Ib. Among other nations, cases of this variation have been verified in the UK, Germany, Sweden, and India.

Following criticism for moving too slowly on vaccinations, WHO approved Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine in September and listed Japan’s KM Biologics vaccine for emergency use earlier this month.