Day: December 25, 2022

Situation Analysis

Across the region, millions of people are living in poverty and facing multiple daily threats to their food security. An estimated 146 million people are facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Climatic shocks, such as prolonged drought and recurrent flooding, conflict, desert locusts, and economic downturns, exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19, have combined to hit communities hard. The impact of global drivers is compounding the effect of pre-existing deep-rooted local drivers such as poverty and marginalisation.

The crisis has spread across all of Africa – from East Africa with the fourth consecutive failed rains in the Horn of Africa and extreme flooding for four successive years in South Sudan, to the Sahel region of West Africa plagued by insecurity and political instability, to Southern Africa where countries, such as Zimbabwe, are experiencing surging inflation. Unfortunately, this is not new and in 2010–2011, in spite of early warning signs that failed rains in East Africa would result in acute food insecurity and a loss of lives, the humanitarian response was too little and too late. History almost repeated itself in 2016–2017, but governments and humanitarian organisations mobilised a response sufficient enough to head off mass mortality.

Warnings of the current situation were given as early as 12 months ago when African Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies started to launch hunger crisis emergency appeals. So far, 17 African National Societies have responded to the hunger crisis across the region with the limited resources they have. However, to respond to the rapidly escalating humanitarian needs and scale up, for the National Society response, funding for the crisis needs to be urgently increased. The IFRC, in turn, must quickly and massively scale-up life-saving assistance to millions of people facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity, of which hundreds of thousands are at immediate risk of or experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, but also to decisively address the root causes of this crisis through longer-term commitments.

The report details how the African Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies plan to scale up life-saving assistance to millions of people and the response efforts since the launch of the emergency appeal. At the same time, through longer-term programming, African National Societies will address the root causes of food insecurity. IFRC will build on our previous successes and work in support of government plans and frameworks to improve the resilience of the most impoverished communities, including displaced populations.

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to the “senseless” war in Ukraine, in his traditional Christmas message from St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The 86-year-old also warned the 10-month-old conflict was aggravating food shortages around the world, urging an end to the use of “food as a weapon.”

The head of the Catholic Church addressed thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, some of them holding Ukrainian flags, before delivering the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing (“to the city and the world”)

He has repeatedly called for peace ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, condemning the war but seeking to maintain a delicate dialogue with Moscow.

In his address from the central balcony of St Peter’s, he recalled “our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are experiencing this Christmas in the dark and cold, far from their homes.”

“May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!”

“Tragically, we prefer to heed other counsels, dictated by worldly ways of thinking”, he added, recalling “with sorrow” that “the icy winds of war continue to buffet humanity.”

“Our time is experiencing a grave famine of peace also in other regions and other theatres of this third world war,” he said.

He referenced numerous countries in difficulty this Christmas, whether due to conflict or another crisis, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lebanon and Haiti.

For the first time, he also called for “reconciliation” in Iran, rocked by women-led protests for the past three months.

The pope also urged those celebrating Christmas to remember all those “who go hungry while huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are being spent on weapons.”

“The war in Ukraine has further aggravated this situation, putting entire peoples at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa,” he said.

“We know that every war causes hunger and exploits food as a weapon, hindering its distribution to people already suffering.

“On this day, let us learn from the Prince of Peace [Jesus Christ] and, starting with those who hold political responsibilities, commit ourselves to making food solely an instrument of peace.”

Source: Voice of America

Dutch King Willem-Alexander welcomed the government’s apology for the Netherlands’ role in 250 years of slavery in his Christmas address on Sunday, saying it was the “start of a long journey.”

Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday officially apologized for the Dutch state’s involvement in slavery in its former colonies, calling it a “crime against humanity.”

“Nobody today bears responsibility for the inhumane acts that were inflicted on the lives of men, women and children,” Willem-Alexander said from the palace of Huis ten Bosch in The Hague.

“But by honestly facing our shared past and recognizing the crime against humanity that is slavery, we lay the ground for a shared future — a future in which we stand against all modern forms of discrimination, exploitation and injustice,” the king said. “The apology offered by the government is the start of a long journey.”

The Netherlands funded its “Golden Age” of empire and culture in the 16th and 17th centuries by shipping around 600,000 Africans as part of the slave trade, mostly to South America and the Caribbean.

The Dutch government says several major commemorative events will be held from next year and has announced a $212 million fund for social initiatives.

Willem-Alexander promised that the topic would retain the royal family’s attention during the commemorative year and that they would remain “involved.”

But Rutte’s move went against the wishes of some slavery commemoration organizations who wanted the apology to be offered on July 1, 2023.

Descendants of Dutch slavery will then celebrate 150 years of liberation from slavery in an annual celebration called “Keti Koti” (Breaking the Chains) in Suriname.

The leaders of the Caribbean island Sint Maarten and Suriname in South America regretted the lack of dialogue from the Netherlands over the apology.

Some former Dutch colonies have demanded compensation for slavery and criticized the government for not offering concrete actions.

Source: Voice of America