Famine in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria

Young girls line up at a feeding centre in Mogadishu, Somalia in March 2017. (Credit: UN Photo/Tobin Jones)
���It is a moral outrage that people are dying from hunger in a world of plenty. Leaders have failed and ordinary men, women and children are paying a dreadful price. Urgent action is needed to deliver life-saving aid and, just as importantly, to address the root causes of the conflicts and disruptions that have created this dire situation.�۝

The Elders welcomed the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General Ant�_nio Guterres in drawing attention to the suffering and for pressing UN member states to adequately fund humanitarian operations.

Humanitarian actors must have full and unimpeded access to victims of famine, and must work to ensure that those forced from their homes are able to return as soon as possible.

Mary Robinson Elder and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said:

���These famines are an affront to our common humanity. They are the product of political neglect and a callous disregard for human life from the leaders entrusted with a responsibility to protect their people. This is no time for the international community, and particularly the world�۪s richest countries, to step away from their commitments to overseas aid, support for UN peacekeeping, or safeguarding universal rights and values.�۝

The Elders urged the international community, and particularly the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, to commit substantial resources to the humanitarian relief efforts, and also to use their political influence to ensure leaders in the countries concerned fulfil their responsibilities towards their own peoples.

They voiced particular concern that in
, the government�۪s military operations are directly contributing to famine by destroying homes and livelihoods. This is compounded by the brazen obstruction of humanitarian access, exacerbated by the unacceptable increase in visa fees for aid workers.

In the case of Yemen, the
to restrict the arms sales that are fuelling the conflict. The Elders urged the leaders of those countries that are directly involved in the conflict to strictly abide by international humanitarian law, refrain from targeting civilians and lift the siege of Yemen�۪s main port so food can be freely imported and distributed.

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