Increasing tendency to politicise humanitarian situations is unfortunate: India at UN

 

 

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti has said the increasing tendency to politicise humanitarian situations is unfortunate. He said, there is an urgent need for the donor community to scale up assistance to conflict-affected countries.

Speaking at the UNSC open debate on 'Conflict and Food Security' yesterday, Mr. Tirumurti said nations must resist linking developmental aid with progress in the political process as this will only enhance food insecurity in conflict situations.

Citing estimates from the World Food Programme (WFP), Mr. Tirumurti said the number of people suffering from food insecurity is projected to more than double by the end of 2020 to 270 million people, with the COVID-19 pandemic making it worse.       

The "Global Report on Food Crises 2020'' by WFP and 15 other humanitarian and development agencies notes that more than 77 million people are suffering from acute food insecurity in conflict-affected countries.       

He said the pandemic has only served to make food insecurity more complex by forcing countries to impose restrictions on the movement of people, thereby depriving farms of hands to reap the harvest. He said it has resulted in loss of farm-based employment, limiting access to food in the rural areas and eroding the ability of the State to cope with the socio-economic pressure of the pandemic.     

Mr Tirumurti also pointed out that fragile States generally have weak capacities to design, implement and monitor policies and programmes related to food, thereby increasing their vulnerability while facing a conflict situation. Mr Trinurti said India is of the view that armed conflict and terrorism combined with extreme weather, crop pests, food price volatility, exclusion, and economic shocks can devastate any fragile state leading to food insecurity and increase the threat of famine.       

He cited the example of Northeast Nigeria, where thousands of people are trapped without life-saving humanitarian assistance and of Yemen, where restrictions on land, sea, and air trade routes have led to severe cuts of vital supplies of commodities such as food, fuel, and medicines. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, addressing the Council, said that conflict drives hunger and famine; which in turn drives conflict.       

The UN Chief said when a country or region is gripped by conflict and hunger, they become mutually reinforcing and cannot be resolved separately. Hunger and poverty combine with inequality, climate shocks, sectarian and ethnic tensions, and grievances over land and resources, to spark and drive conflict.
 

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(With input from news agency language)

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