World facing largest humanitarian crises, UN says

The United Nations has revealed that the world is facing its largest humanitarian crises since the UN was established in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries at risk of starvation and famine.

According to a UN humanitarian chief, about 20 million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria face starvation and famine.

Stephen O’Brien told the UN Security Council on Friday that “without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death” and “many more will suffer and die from disease”.

Read also: FAMINE: Hungry South Sudanese eat weeds, water lilies to survive

He urged an immediate injection of funds for Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria plus safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid “to avert a catastrophe”.

“To be precise,” O’Brien said, “we need $4.4 billion by July”.

In a bid to fight the debilitating pangs of hunger, hundreds of thousands of wizened South Sudanese families have resorted to eating weeds and water lilies to survive famine which has hit the war-torn country.

Among the hungry, many are more than 100,000 people that the United Nations says face imminent starvation in the counties of Leer and Mayendit in greater Unity state, which borders Sudan.

This development is coming after United Nations declared famine in parts of South Sudan warning that hundreds of thousands of people face starvation occasioned by years of war and a collapsing economy.

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