The Hunger Pandemic

Summary

In the past few decades, significant progress has been made in combating poverty. 30 years ago, 25% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Today, this figure stands at less than 10%.
COVID-19 is threatening lives and livelihoods across the globe. This year alone, 6.5 million people have died from hunger; if we don’t act rapidly, strategically, and responsibly, this number could triple or even quadruple next year. Some 400 million jobs have been lost due to COVID-19, and remittances have decreased by over $100 billion.
Multilateral efforts to respond to the economic ramifications of COVID-19 are underway. After David Beasley spoke to the UN Security Council, key nations agreed to commit some $17 trillion in stimulus packages.

“We have to make sure that we don’t solve the COVID pandemic in a vacuum at the expense of a hunger pandemic,” David Beasley

The key to a robust COVID-19 recovery is deep private sector engagement that goes beyond just philanthropy; private sector actors should lend their skills and expertise to fortifying country-level systems.

Director General, United Nations World Food Programme