Without billions of dollars more to feed millions of hungry people, the world will see mass migration, destabilized countries, and starving children and adults in the next 12 to 18 months, the head of the Nobel prize-winning U.N. World Food Program warned Friday.<\/p>\n
David Beasley praised increased funding from the United States and Germany last year, and urged China, Gulf nations, billionaires and other countries \u201cto step up big time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview before he hands the reins of the world\u2019s largest humanitarian organization to U.S. ambassador Cindy McCain next week, the former South Carolina governor said he\u2019s \u201cextremely worried\u201d that WFP won\u2019t raise about $23 billion it needs this year to help millions of needy people.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight at this stage, I\u2019ll be surprised if we get 40% of it, quite frankly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Last year, Beasley raised $14.2 billion for WFP, more than double the $6 billion in 2017, the year he took over as executive director. That money helped over 128 million people in more than 120 countries and territories.<\/p>\n
Beasley said he was able to convince the United States last year to increase its funding from about $3.5 billion to $7.4 billion and Germany to raise its contribution from $350 million a few years ago to $1.7 billion, but he doesn\u2019t think they\u2019ll do it again this year.<\/p>\n
Other countries need to step up now, he said, starting with China, the world\u2019s second-largest economy which gave WFP just $11 million last year.<\/p>\n
Beasley applauded China for its success in substantially reducing hunger and poverty at home, but said it gave less than one cent per person last year compared to the United States, the world\u2019s leading economy, which gave about $22 per person.<\/p>\n
China needs \u201cto engage in the multilateral world\u201d and be willing to provide help that is critical, he said. \u201cThey have a moral obligation to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beasley said they\u2019ve done \u201can incredible job of feeding their people,\u201d and \u201cnow we need their help in other parts of the world\u201d on how they did it, particularly in poorer countries including in Africa.<\/p>\n
With high oil prices Gulf countries can also do more, especially Muslim nations that have relations with countries in east Africa, the Sahara and elsewhere in the Middle East, he said, expressing hope they will increase contributions.<\/p>\n
Beasley said the wealthiest billionaires made unprecedented profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and \u201cit\u2019s not too much to ask some of the multibillionaires to step up and help us in the short-term crisis,\u201d even though charity isn\u2019t a long-term solution to the food crisis.<\/p>\n
In the long-term, he said what he\u2019d really like to see is billionaires using their experience and success to engage \u201cin the world\u2019s greatest need \u2013 and that is food on the planet to feed 8 billion people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world has to understand that the next 12 to 18 months is critical, and if we back off the funding, you will have mass migration, and you will have destabilization nations and that will all be on top of starvation among children and people around the world,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n
Beasley said WFP was just forced to cut rations by 50% to 4 million people in Afghanistan, and \u201cthese are people who are knocking on famine\u2019s door now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough money just to reach the most vulnerable people now,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we are in a crisis over the cliff stage right now, where we literally could have hell on earth if we\u2019re not very careful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beasley said he\u2019s been telling leaders in the West and Europe that while they\u2019re focusing everything on Ukraine and Russia, \u201cyou better well not forget about what\u2019s south and southeast of you because I can assure you it is coming your way if you don\u2019t pay attention and get on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With $400 trillion worth of wealth on the planet, he said, there\u2019s no reason for any child to die of starvation.<\/p>\n
The WFP executive director said leaders have to prioritize the humanitarian needs that are going to have the greatest impact on stability in societies around the world.<\/p>\n
He singled out several priority places \u2014 Africa\u2019s Sahel region as well as the east including Somalia, northern Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia; Syria which is having an impact on Jordan and Lebanon; and Central and South America where the number of people migrating to the United States is now five times what it was a year-and-a-half ago.<\/p>\n
Beasley said McCain, the widow of U.S. Senator John McCain from Arizona who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and has been the U.S. ambassador to Rome-based WFP and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, \u201cis the right person at the right time\u201d to lead the World Food Program.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been working together to make sure \u201cshe hits the ground running,\u201d he said, But \u201cit\u2019s going to be a very, very challenging time\u201d because of all the money going to the war in Ukraine, and the need to help so many other fragile economies.<\/p>\n
Beasley said his biggest surprise was believing in April 2017, when he took over the agency and there were 80 million people in the world \u201cmarching to starvation,\u201d that \u201cwe could end world hunger and put the World Food Program out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
What he didn\u2019t expect were the conflicts and wars, the climate shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, he said, which raised the 80 million in desperate need of food to 135 million right before COVID started spreading in early 2020, to 276 million before Russia invaded Ukraine \u2014 \u201cthe bread basket of the world\u201d \u2014 in February 2022, and to 350 million now.<\/p>\n
Beasley said \u201c\u201dit\u2019s hard not to get depressed\u201d but two things give him hope.<\/p>\n
Seeing little girls and boys smiling in the midst of war and suffering from hunger \u201cinspires you not to give up,\u201d he said, as does the bipartisan support in the often divided U.S. Congress for helping the poorest of the poor around the world.<\/p>\n
As he returns to his family in South Carolina, Beasley said his dream remains to end world hunger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n