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TechnoratiWorld Hunger Outstripping Aid Efforts
WASHINGTON - Nations worldwide are falling short of the hunger and poverty targets adopted at the start of the millennium, and as a result millions are suffering needlessly, warns a report released ahead of next week's UN summit to measure progress toward the Millennium Development Goals.
![[]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/mdg_goals.gif "mdg_goals.gif")
The report from the humanitarian group CARE International criticizes wealthy countries for not coming through on their pledges of aid, or sending the aid too late to make a difference. It also points out that the recent spike in food prices worldwide has shifted the goalposts for ending poverty and hunger.
The first of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG 1) agreed to by world leaders at the beginning of 2000 is to cut poverty and hunger in half by 2015. But both the United Nations and CARE agree that despite some progress, by this year's mid-way point the goal is in danger of not being met.
Of particular concern are the economic slowdown and food emergency that began to be felt in 2007. On average globally, food costs rose by 83 percent over the past three years, causing poor families to eat less and remove children from school to work or beg, and provoking numerous food riots, according to the CARE report.
In his introduction to the UN's 2008 MDG Report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon acknowledges that the economic slowdown and food crisis are of "uncertain magnitude and duration," and will "push millions more into poverty."
Since the poor spend close to 80 percent of their income on food, rising food costs combined with stagnant economic growth in many countries inevitably set back progress on MDG 1.
CARE's report, entitled "Living on the Edge of Emergency: Paying the Price of Inaction" found that some 220 million people are "on the edge of emergency" in 2008, almost twice as many as in 2006.
That year CARE prepared a similar report, urging international agencies and donors to focus on poverty prevention by funding disaster preparedness, strengthening livelihoods, and building the resilience of the poor to cope with emergencies.
For the most part, aid patterns remained unchanged however, and two years later Geoffrey Dennis, director of CARE International notes angrily: "The world's inaction on food emergencies has proved costly and it is the world's poorest people -- stripped of enough to eat -- who are paying the price."
"It is a disgrace that, despite warnings, money is still being spent in the wrong ways," Dennis added.
CARE makes three main recommendations to governments and aid agencies seeking to turn the situation around:
Meet existing aid commitments, and then commit new funds because 100 million more people are now hungry;
Support food production and the provision of long-term social safety nets;
Do a better job of coordinating emergency aid and traditional development assistance, and make sure funds are provided in a timely manner.
The UN report also calls for "greater financial commitment" on the part of developed countries and urges them to meet pledges already made.
If economic progress does not increase in developing countries and food prices remain high, then progress to date would "no longer be a good indicator of future prospects" for achieving the antipoverty and hunger goals, warns Sha Zu-Kang, UN Under-Secretary for Social and Economic Affairs.
One factor not mentioned by either report is the economic slowdown now materializing in the United States, which is likely to impact every country of the world and may place serious constraints on the ability and willingness of wealthier countries to increase overseas aid.
13 Comments so far
Show AllDon't expect things to get any better for the poor. Right now, the wealthiest nation the world has ever known is busy bailing out the super rich to the tune of a trillion dollars. And this is just the beginning. So sorry poor. So sorry lower middle class. You're screwed.
How about a Goal 9: Achieve sustainable fertility rates. Exponential population growth puts us right back to goal 1.
Goal 7 is not local. The world needs to act on fossil fuel caused climate change. Especially the US. Also, fisheries collapse will cause huge problems, even in the developed world.
It's difficult to grow crops in a war zones. That's why many are starving tonight. The privatization of water has held up proper collective, accessible development of the resource. And the push to grow monocrops for export has long been a complete disaster for farming communities in many parts of the world. People are starving while working for slave wages in banana, wheat, cotton or coffee plantations. In one of the northern districts of India people have no access to their local lake anymore because Pepsi or CocaCola owns the water rights and has fenced it off for production of pop. Corporate agendas trump the people's livelihoods...same as in North America.
One thing for sure, with all this economic upheaval the comfortable middle class is beginning to feel the heat and when they start wondering why their ox is no longer being gored they join the working class who have been critical of the system since birth.
Apparently those of us who go to work every day and work for wages and pay income taxes are the "fundamentals". The fundamentals are good, apparently. hmmm...
everything the USA touches turns to shit. Capatalism needs capital to keep alive and people just get in the way some times.
This is not a problem to be laid solely at the door of the USA. World hunger and poverty is a problem that can only be solved by all the nations working in concert. Not that I suggest this will happen of course, nor do I excuse this nation's contribution to hunger and poverty through its rapacious and greedy exploitations and empire building.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
anyone else having trouble opening CD right now? I guess it is Sept and another surprise. If it happens VOTE green
Perhaps the destruction of small farms in the third world by dumping of American food commodities, and the outright dispossession of lands to make way for export farming, dams, golf courses, resorts and other land uses that don't benefit the local people has something to do with the increased starvation since globalization.
This may be an area where I differ with a lot of "liberal" people, I'm not sure. It seems that we just throw money and aid at these people without looking at the fundamental issues that are perpetuating their horrible conditions.
Our problem seems manifold to me. If we want to alleviate world poverty we need to help them rediscover how to live off their own resources, in a sustainable manner. There is a fundamental problem in that we are not doing that ourselves. We are basically living in a bubble upheld by resource exploitation that is not sustainable.
As "wagelabor" suggested we have a hand in their problems. We need to help ourselves and those impoverished nations achieve resource sustainability. We need to live within our ecological carrying capacities. If we just keep throwing food at them, it's liekly their populations will just keep expanding, exacerbating the already horrible problems.
&YYY&
Feeding the poor, population growth and economic growth is not compatible with Sustainability.
Divide the earth into many local areas and forbid them to trade. Each sub area then is responsible for ensuring that population growth does not exceed carrying capacity. If carrying capacity is exceeded, then damage to local environment reduces the carrying capacity. Trade and assistance between local areas has the effect of increasing temporarily population through negation of resource depletion of the whole at the expense of local environment damage in both areas. Carrying capacity is now reduced in both areas, and nature and population will suffer the consequences.
While gains in agricultural productivity are short term, the climate damage, and the local damage are always increasing, because Gaia is being destroyed, because evolution and Gaia works in true sustainability from the microscopic level upwards at all local to global scopes, utilizing every bit of solar energy, while we are destroying Gaian relationships at all locality levels.
How can anyone talk about those starving when the rich are having such a terrible time with the world financial crisis? Let's get our priorities right here. In a capitalist world, the rich are important. The poor aren't!
Seriously though, the cracks appearing in the prevailing economic system might, just might eventually lead to a more just, equal world. We need to get rid of the rich royalty and share things more fairly.
But don't hold your breath!
www.dangerouscreation.com
How many of the world's starving can be fed with a $700 Billion bailout?
Very true and how many trillions the US has supported the war machine? Trouble is if you need American aid you have to change your elected Goveronment. America is scum
Very good question..couldnt find out on CARE website. Waiting for a reply.
This wil only get worse as global warming continues and water becomes more scarce.