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Oxfam, FAO and WFP call on the international community to address the worsening crisis in the Horn of Africa.
The Humanitarian Coalition - a coalition of Canada's leading relief agencies - raises the alarm that millions face starvation as drought ravages east African nations.
"This may become the worst food crisis of the 21st century,” said Hasnat Ahsan, humanitarian officer at Oxfam Canada. “Large numbers of lives could soon be lost."
The Handbook contains both core and minimum standards for humanitarian response in disaster situations.
The outcome of the G20 Agriculture Ministers meeting in Paris today on the sudden rise in global food prices is disappointing, according to Oxfam. Agriculture Ministers agreed to address some of the impacts of high and volatile prices, but failed to introduce measures to prevent food prices spiralling further out of control.
“At minimum, the G20 must agree to adjust their biofuels targets when food supplies are endangered,” Fox said. “We can’t have one billion people going hungry and keep feeding our SUVs.”
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians on average spend less than 10 per cent of their income on food, but in developing countries, the poor can spend up to 80 per cent of their income on food.
“Measures to regulate commodity markets, stem the diversion of food into biofuels, and scale up food reserves in poor countries are essential." - Mark Fried
Rapidly rising food prices and the effects of climate change are pushing more of the world’s poor into hunger, Oxfam says while launching its biggest and most ambitious global campaign to date calling for a dramatic turnaround in the way we produce and share food.
As G8 leaders arrive in France ahead of the Summit, international agency Oxfam urged the eight leaders to show they are not just a talking shop, and to Google their previous commitments to the world’s poor before making new ones.
As Alassane Ouattara is officially inaugurated as President of Ivory Coast, more than 300,000 people remain displaced from their homes and in dire need of assistance. Months of violence have caused a severe humanitarian crisis, yet the UN appeals remain only 35 per cent funded – with donations falling $200 million short of what’s needed.
South Sudan is facing its most violent year since the end of the civil war in 2005, Oxfam says, as it urged the UN Security Council to ensure civilians are better protected.
Plan Canada, an international development organization supporting social justice for children around the world, has joined the HUMANITARIAN COALITION alongside CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Quebec and Save the Children Canada.
The G8 have failed to deliver on their aid promises and are using creative accounting to cover their tracks, international development agency Oxfam has warned.
NATO countries must act, Oxfam and other agencies warn in a new report called "No Time to Lose," noting that unless better checks and balances are put in place and training is urgently stepped up, there is a serious risk that abuses and violations by Afghan forces will increase.
