The World Food Programme warns that ongoing conflict involving Iran could push an additional 45 million people into severe hunger by June. Rising food, oil and shipping costs combined with disrupted aid routes threaten to create record-breaking global hunger levels.
The ongoing conflict involving Iran could drive an additional 45 million people into severe hunger by June, according to new projections released Tuesday by the World Food Programme.
The military operations between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran, which commenced on February 28, have significantly disrupted critical humanitarian supply chains and delayed essential aid deliveries to regions already facing severe food crises.
World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau warned reporters in Geneva that the additional 45 million people facing acute hunger would push global totals beyond the current record of 319 million people experiencing food insecurity. The increase stems from escalating costs for food, fuel, and shipping services.
“This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” Skau stated. “Already, before this war, we were in a perfect storm where hunger has never been as severe as now, in terms of numbers and how deep that hunger is,” he continued.
The humanitarian organization reports that transportation costs have jumped 18 percent since the conflict began in late February, forcing aid shipments to take longer, more expensive alternative routes. These mounting expenses come at a time when the World Food Programme has already implemented significant budget reductions as donor nations shift resources toward defense spending, Skau noted.
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