Don’t Let Millions Die From Hunger While Wealthy Nations Prosper

“We are on the verge of a raging food catastrophe. People in five separate places are facing famine.” The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) delivered this dire warning to the world’s richest countries at the G20 Summit. His words are no mere lip service.

Currently, record-breaking drought in parts of Africa is quickly setting the stage for deadly famine. Additional stressors, from the war in Ukraine to global inflation to the lingering effects of the pandemic, are only compounding the crisis. In Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia alone, an estimated two people per minute are projected to die of hunger in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the rich are getting richer and taking every last penny they can out of the pockets of the poor. At a time when the most impoverished nations are literally fighting for their lives, about a quarter of their budgets (to the tune of over 100 billion dollars) is going into the coffers of wealthy nations for debt repayment. And when the UN appealed to these rich countries to up their food security aid investments, the lackluster response did not even meet half the requested amount.

Advocates are once again calling on the nations that house 90 percent of the world’s billionaires to do more to address these crushing inequalities and lend a helping hand. Sign the petition below to urge these global influencers to help those less fortunate.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Prime Minister Modi,

The richest one percent in the world own half of humanity’s total wealth. As the rich enjoy record-setting profits, frozen tax rates, and more advantages around the globe, on the other end of the spectrum the world’s most impoverished are facing drought, famine, and a premature death every 30 seconds. The UN Secretary-General laid out these stark realities at the G20 Summit, concluding with a universal appeal: “multilateral solutions can only be built on fairness and justice.”

The Secretary-General and other advocates believe this equality can be achieved through the implementation and realization of sustainable development goals. For one, Special Drawing Rights of supplementary reserves can be afforded to distressed nations. And these countries are experiencing another tremendous burden as they struggle to repay their rich creditors. Debt relief and forgiveness extended to struggling regions could go a long way in alleviating these burdens. Even more crucially for the short-term, increases in food security and overall humanitarian investments could stave off the worst outcomes of a devastating famine.

Please join with your G20 allies in making these aspirations a life-saving reality.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Fatima Yusuf