UN World Food Program warns that at least 14 million people could go hungry in Latin America as Covid-19 pandemic rages on
Demonstrators gather near a burning barricade during a protest demanding food aid from the government amid the new coronavirus pandemic, at the 17 de Mayo neighborhood in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, May 26, 2020.
“We are entering a very complicated stage,” said Miguel Barreto, the WFP’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “It is what we are calling a hunger pandemic.”Many of the hungry are informal workers who make up a sizable portion of Latin America’s workforce, while others are newly poor who have lost jobs amidst a historic economic downturn.
UN food agency executive director David Beasley warned in April that an addition 130 million people could be “pushed to the brink of starvation” worldwide by the end of 2020. The new estimates for Latin America indicate the region will be especially hard hit. The WFP is calling on nations to expand their social safety net to those who traditionally don’t qualify for aid. Many governments and international organisations have been stepping up, providing cash transfers and food deliveries, but are facing logistical and economic hurdles.
“We could enter another lost decade,” said Alicia Barcena, chief of the UN’s regional economic branch, referring to a previous downturn during the 1980s that took Latin America 25 years in order to recover 1979 per-capita income levels. Alimenta la Solidaridad, a charity that operates 214 soup kitchens across Venezuela, has seen demand increase since a nationwide quarantine went into effect in mid-March.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
14 Signs You’re A Good MomI want to be a mom that puts the dishes aside to do an art project and leaves the laundry in the basket to read my kids a book.
Read more »
Dakota Johnson Remains Unfazed By Her Grandma Tippi Hedren’s 14 Lions and TigersDakota Johnson reveals that by the time she was born in 1989, her grandma's big cat reserve 'wasn't as totally psycho as it was when they first started.'
Read more »
Dakota Johnson says grandma Tippi Hedren still has '13 or 14' big cats'Fifty Shades of Grey' star Dakota Johnson has confirmed that her grandma, screen legend Tippi Hedren, still has a passion for big cats. In an interview with U.K. talk show host Graham Norton, Johnson said that 'The Birds' star Hedren has '13 or 14 lions and tigers.' Johnson
Read more »
14 LGBTQ Shows on Netflix That are Perfect to Binge ASAPIt doesn't need to be pride month for you to watch these!
Read more »