Till now, we are still reeling from the disasters that have been created in 2020 by Coronavirus, systemic poverty, and corporate greed. Nearly a billion people in the world don’t have enough food to eat on a daily basis, while hundreds of millions have lost their jobs and homelessness has multiplied severalfold.
On the other hand, the wealth of the billionaires has increased as the world plunges into ruin.
And now the United Nations has predicted that 2021 will be even worse
In a way, it’s not a surprising prediction. Consider that the world has already begun its decline and downfall, and recovery from this point is going to take efforts that most people are not ready for.
David Beasley, Executive Director of UN’s World Food Programme has said that the coming year is going to get worse, and we are going to see famines of “biblical proportions” in 2021. He also said that the COVID-19 is rising again, making its forway into the third wave that will be even more disastrous.
It’s impossible to achieve food security after the COVID-19 pandemic
He said that the Nobel Peace Prize has given him the kind of spotlight and the relevance he needs because now the world leaders actually pay attention to him and he can warn everyone of what is about to come.
In an interview with the Associated Press, he said that the Food Agency of UN has been feeding millions of hungry people all over the world who have been stuck in disasters, wars, refugee camps, and elsewhere. And their data collection has shown a worrying trend that hungry people are just increasing and there is no chance for them to fall back into food security that they had in the times before COVID.
These are the countries that will be worst hit
There are about three dozen countries that could possibly enter the famine conditions if we don’t have the money we need, Beasley said.
Of those, Yemen, South Sudan, northeastern Nigeria and Burkina Faso have some areas that have reached a critical hunger situation following years of conflict or other shocks, the U.N. agencies said, and any further deterioration in coming months could lead to a risk of famine.
Other countries requiring urgent attention are Afghanistan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somali, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, they said.
But again, there is a grave fault in his own thinking
He says he is going to talk to world leaders, parliaments, and give speeches to make the politicians and business tycoons understand the gravity of the situation.
Although, one unfortunate thing is that he has some kind of “great hope” from billionaires who have hoarded hundreds of billions during the pandemic, that they will “step up” on a one-time basis. It’s almost tragic that a person at the head of the UN’s Food Agency can be gullible and ignorant enough to believe that the company owners who refused a raise and insurance for their workers, will actually step up to do anything for the people they have nothing to gain from.
Featured Image Courtesy: Newspeak