World hunger on the rise amid Covid-19 pandemic, UN warns

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13 July 2020

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United Nations, Jul 13 (Prensa Latina) The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, warned today that in much of the world, hunger remains deeply rooted and is increasing in the midst of the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, he said, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) report on the world' s state of food security and nutrition sends a sobering and clear message that if current trends continue, we will not achieve Sustainable Development Goal number two: Zero Hunger by 2030.

Countries continue dealing with malnutrition in all its forms, including the growing burden of obesity, and the Covid-19 pandemic makes matters worse, he said.

Much more people could face hunger in the coming months and we cannot allow this to happen, the change must begin now, the UN head stressed.

Investments in the Covid-19 response and recovery must help meet our long-term goal of a more inclusive and sustainable world, Guterres said.

Currently, 7.4 percent of the Latin American and Caribbean population faces hunger and by 2030 the percentage will rise to 9.5 percent, according to FAO estimates.

FAO's regional representative, Julio Berdegue, said that Latin America and the Caribbean are worse-off than when they committed themselves to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015: since then, nine million more people are starving.