{"id":99059,"date":"2022-03-16T03:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T02:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/?p=99059"},"modified":"2022-03-15T13:42:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T12:42:55","slug":"ukraine-we-need-peace-now-declares-guterres-warning-of-global-hunger-meltdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/en\/ukraine-we-need-peace-now-declares-guterres-warning-of-global-hunger-meltdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine: \u2018We need peace now\u2019 declares Guterres, warning of global hunger meltdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine is being \u201cdecimated before the eyes of the world\u201d with Russia\u2019s military offensive against civilians \u201creaching terrifying proportions\u201d,\u00a0said the UN chief on Monday<\/a>, warning that a resulting meltdown of the global economy is provoking a hunger crisis that is hitting the poorest, hardest.<\/p>\n

Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>\u00a0addressed correspondents outside the\u00a0Security Council<\/a>\u00a0chamber in New York, and said that with each passing hour in Ukraine, the death and destruction is getting worse: \u201cWhatever the outcome, this war will have no winners, only losers<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roads, airports, schools, lie in ruins, due to Russia\u2019s invasion, with at least 24 health facilities suffering attacks, while hundreds of thousands are now without water or electricity.<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres said the UN and humanitarian partners were working \u201cto ensure safe passage from besieged areas, and to provide aid where security permits, allowing around 600,000 to receive some form of aid since the bombardment began.<\/p>\n

He announced the release of a further $40 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF<\/a>) to ramp up vital assistance, but noted that \u201cthe avenues in and out of encircled cities, are more precarious by the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nearly two million now displaced inside the country, and close to three million who have become refugees in the past two weeks – the vast majority women and children \u2013 are becoming increasingly vulnerable, he warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor predators and human traffickers, war is not a tragedy. It\u2019s an opportunity<\/strong>. And women and children are the targets. They need safety and support every step of the way. I will continue to highlight the desperate plight of the people of Ukraine as I am doing again today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assault on the world\u2019s most vulnerable<\/h4>\n

Besides the hour-to-hour devastation inside Ukraine, the UN chief said the war was reaching far beyond its borders, with\u00a0a Sword of Damocles now hanging over the global economy \u2013 \u201cespecially the developing world<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

For months now, developing countries have been struggling to recover from the pandemic \u2013 with record inflation, rising interest rates and looming debt burdens, while their ability to respond has been \u201cerased by exponential increases in the cost of financing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow their breadbasket is being bombed<\/strong>\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world\u2019s supply of sunflower oil and about 30 percent of the world\u2019s wheat, he added, noting that Ukraine alone provides more than half of the World Food Programme\u2019s (WFP<\/a>) wheat supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood, fuel and fertilizer prices are skyrocketing.\u00a0 Supply chains are being disrupted.\u00a0 And the costs and delays of transportation of imported goods \u2013 when available \u2013 are at record levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this is hitting the poorest the hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the globe<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avert \u2018hurricane of hunger\u2019<\/h4>\n

He said 45 African and least developed countries import at least a third of their wheat from Ukraine or Russia, with 18 of those, import at least 50 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must do everything possible to avert a hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system<\/strong>. In addition, we are seeing clear evidence of this war draining resources and attention from other trouble-spots in desperate need.<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres called on countries to find creative ways to finance increased humanitarian and development recovery needs worldwide, to give generously and immediately release pledged funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a word, developing countries are getting pummelled. They face a cascade of crises \u2013 beyond the Ukraine war, we cannot forget COVID and the impacts of climate change – in particular, drought.\u201d<\/p>\n

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