Hunger, conflict and the human cost of war – Firstpost

Mahatma Gandhi said that there are people in the world who are so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. Hunger is one of humanity’s greatest enemies and has driven millions of people to despair; it has also served as the subject of a number of influential literary works, a notable example of which is French writer Victor Hugo’s classic Les Misérables.

In her article “Let Them Eat Bread: The Theft That Inspired Les Miserables,” which appeared on NPR (National Public Radio) in March 2017, Nina Martiris wrote:

“On a very cold February day in 1846, the French writer Victor Hugo was walking to work when he saw something that touched him deeply. A thin young man with a loaf of bread under his arm was being led away by the police. Passers-by said that he was arrested for stealing a loaf. He was dressed in mud-spattered clothes, his bare feet were in shoes, and his ankles were wrapped in bloody rags instead of stockings.”

“It got me thinking,” Hugo wrote. “In my eyes this man was no longer a man, but a ghost of la Misère, poverty.” In his novel, Hugo describes family circumstances in these few short lines: “A very hard winter has come. Jean didn’t have a job. There was no bread in the family. No bread in the literal sense of the word. Seven children!

Jean Valjean is sentenced to five years’ hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread! He tried to escape four times, and each time his sentence was extended by three years; he also received an additional two years for once resisting recapture during his second escape. After nineteen years of imprisonment, he was released, but by law he had to carry a yellow passport, which indicated that he was an ex-convict, an outcast. Hugo uses this bread to attack society’s criminal indifference to poverty and hunger and to highlight the injustice of the penal system.

Les Misérables was intended to awaken the conscience of humanity, but one must ask oneself whether it succeeded in doing so. As former US President Dwight Eisenhower said: “Every weapon made, every warship launched, every missile fired is ultimately a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.”

As the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps states: “Hunger and malnutrition pose the greatest health risks worldwide—more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Globally, lack of food still kills a child every three seconds, and nearly half of all deaths in children under five are attributed to undernutrition.” Eveyone.org, another charity, reports: “Every hour of every day, 300 children die due to malnutrition. It is the leading cause of more than a third of child deaths—2.6 million each year.”

There is an urgent need to take action militarily against such a situation.

Unfortunately, the global hunger situation is only getting worse. According to a United Nations report released on October 31, 2024, acute food insecurity will increase in both magnitude and severity in 22 countries and territories. The report, Hunger Hot Spots: FAO-WFP Early Warnings on Acute Food Insecurity, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives. and livelihoods, and prevent hunger and death in hotspots where acute hunger is at high risk of worsening between November 2024 and May 2025.

According to the report, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali remain at the highest level of alert and require the most urgent attention. Conflict is the main driver of hunger in all these regions. In all of the hotspots of greatest concern, communities have already faced or are at risk of famine, or are facing catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity. Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of very serious concern as large numbers of people face critical acute food shortages coupled with worsening factors that are expected to further exacerbate health risks. living conditions. in the coming months. It warns that La Niña weather patterns could impact the climate until March 2025, threatening fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.

The report also warns that the spread of conflict, particularly in the Middle East, coupled with climate and economic stressors is pushing millions of people to the brink of hunger. The report highlights the regional impact of the Gaza crisis, which has left Lebanon engulfed in conflict.

The need to end the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip cannot be overstated. The official death toll in Gaza now stands at 43,259, with 101,827 injured, but the real death toll is believed to be much higher. Moreover, if people do not die from Israeli bombing, they will die from starvation. The UN report states that some 495,000 people (20 percent of Gaza’s population) already suffer from hunger, and 96 percent of Gaza’s population faces high levels of food insecurity. Additionally, from November to the end of April, 41 percent of the population, or 876,000 people, will face “extreme” levels of hunger.

Hopes for a ceasefire appear to have faded as the Israeli offensive on Gaza and Lebanon continues with deadly blows, killing hundreds of people almost every day and displacing countless others. Hamas reportedly received an offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators for a short-term truce in the Gaza Strip, but rejected it because it did not include a permanent cessation of aggression and did not entail the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip.

Just over 26,399 tons of food aid entered the Gaza Strip in October, compared with nearly 76,000 in September and an average of 95,513 tons allowed in each month this year, according to the Israeli military, and not all of those deliveries reached their target. people inside. More than 500 trucks remain blocked on the Gaza side of the border, where the UN says it is having difficulty returning cargo due to Israeli military operations, lawlessness and other obstacles.

The Israeli parliament’s October 28 decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has further hampered the delivery of critical aid to the Gaza Strip as Israel continues its offensive there. The ban, which will take effect in the next three months, is part of efforts by Israeli officials to dismantle it following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel accused 19 UNRWA staff of involvement in the attacks; A UN investigation concluded that 10 people may have been involved and fired those individuals, but found no evidence to support the remaining cases. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening due to the UNRWA ban.

Sindley McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, said: “It’s time for world leaders to step up and work with us to help the millions of people at risk of starvation – finding diplomatic solutions to conflicts, using their influence to enable humanitarian organizations to work safely, and mobilize the resources and partnerships needed to end global hunger.” Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General, echoed these sentiments: “If we are to save lives and prevent acute hunger and malnutrition, we urgently need a humanitarian ceasefire and restoration of access and availability of nutritious food, including the resumption of local food production. “

World leaders must prioritize conflict resolution to protect the most vulnerable populations on the brink of famine. We need long-term stability and food security. Peace is a prerequisite for food security. Access to nutritious food is not just a basic need, it is a fundamental human right.

In conclusion, we as individuals also have a responsibility. We must not ignore hunger whenever we see it. In such difficult times, we should be guided by the words of Mother Teresa: “If you cannot feed a hundred people, feed at least one.”

The writer is a retired Indian diplomat and previously served as Consul General in New York. The views expressed in the article above are personal and belong solely to the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost.