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LONDON: The UN agency charged with relieving world hunger has
launched an “extraordinary emergency appeal” for at least $500
million (325 million euros), the Financial Times reported on Monday.
According to the business daily, which cited a
letter sent to donor countries over the weekend that it obtained,
the money was required by the end of April, otherwise the World Food
Program (WFP) would have to reduce food rations because of rapidly
increasing commodity prices.
“We urge your government to be as generous as
possible in helping us to close this gap which stood at $500 million
on February 25 and has been growing daily,” WFP Executive Director
Josette Sheeran wrote in the letter.
She added that if sufficient money was not
received by May 1, the WFP may have to cut “the rations for those
who rely on the world to stand by them during times of abject
need.”
The letter also quoted UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki Moon, who said: “This is the new face of hunger, increasingly
affecting communities that had previously been protected.”
Food prices have been spiraling higher globally
because of rising population, strong demand from developing
countries, the use of certain foods in biofuels to combat climate
change, and the increasing frequency of floods and droughts as a
result of climate change.
The Financial Times said, citing unnamed
officials, that the WFP’s funding gap was now between $600 million
and $700 million.
The WFP provided food aid to nearly 88 million
people in 78 countries in 2006.
-- AFP
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