The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Millions in Latin America and the Caribbean at risk of severe food insecurity due to impact of Covid-19
The COVID-19 pandemic may turn into a hunger pandemic for millions of people in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
The agency warned today that as many as 10 million additional people could join the ranks of the poor and hungry across 11 countries, including some of the small island nations in the Caribbean.
“The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 can push an additional 10 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean into severe food insecurity”, said Elisabeth Byrs, WFP senior spokesperson, speaking today via videoconference at the UN in Geneva.
In 2019, 3.4 million people in the region were already facing severe food insecurity - meaning that they were in an emergency-like situation of not being able to meet their basic food needs.
The Latin America and Caribbean region has recently been battered by economic shocks, erratic climate, displacement of population and a situation of social insecurity. It is currently considered the global epicenter of COVID-19 spread, worsening an already dire situation for many.
“We need to act quickly and decisively, if we are to prevent this crisis from becoming a hunger pandemic”, said WFP’s Elisabeth Byrs.
WFP supports governments and reach the people most in need with food rations to take home, vouchers and cash to shop at local stores. In emergencies such as COVID-19, it is vital that national social protection programmes adapt and expand to protect the most vulnerable, such as migrants and people in the informal economy.
“WFP is particularly concerned about vulnerable people in Haiti”, its spokesperson said. “We have 700, 000 people in Haiti with severe food insecurity and this year this number will rise to 1,6 million for Haiti.”
Cash and food distributions are taking place every week in Haiti. WFP operates a helicopter in the country to carry medical personnel, supplies and hospital equipment to areas that are difficult to reach by road.
“We are concerned about what we call the Central American Dry Corridor. I mean El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. There were 1,6 million in this corridor people food insecure in 2019, and this year we will have 3 million,” Byrs said.
More than 80 million children in the region stopped receiving school meals once schools closed because of the pandemic. For many, that plate of food was their only meal of the day. Take-home rations have been distributed to families in Haiti, Colombia and Honduras as an alternative to children's school meals.
The number of Venezuelan migrants with severe food insecurity in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru could rise from 540,000 to more than 1 million, WFP estimates.
The hurricane season in the Caribbean, starting in June, is an additional risk for which governments will need to prepare.
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva, sunny.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Elisabeth Byrs, Senior Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 can push an additional 10 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean into severe food insecurity”.
- Wide shot: UN Geneva main entrance, elevated view of front gates.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Elisabeth Byrs, Senior Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “We need to act quickly and decisively, if we are to prevent this crisis from becoming a hunger pandemic”.
- Medium shot: UN Geneva building.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Elisabeth Byrs, Senior Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “WFP is particularly concerned about vulnerable people in Haiti, we have
- Medium shot: UN Geneva pedestrian entrance and flag alley, viewed from the Place des Nations, Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Elisabeth Byrs, Senior Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP): “We are concerned about what we call the Central American Dry Corridor. I mean El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. There were 1,6 million in this corridor people food insecure in 2019, and this year we will have 3 million”.
- Medium shot, UN Geneva, UN flag flying.
700, 000 people in Haiti with severe food insecurity and this year this number will raise to 1,6 million for Haiti.”
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns
In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens and economic woes linked to the war to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN's top aid official there said on Monday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Ukraine: Families in ‘survival mode’ amid Russian strikes and -18°C cold
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to a deadly -18°C (-0.4°F), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence urges Iranian authorities to end violent repression and calls for accountability.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: A ceasefire that ‘still buries children’ is not enough, says UNICEF
Airstrikes, drone strikes and hypothermia are among the lethal conditions prevailing in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with more than 100 children killed since early October, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
At the UN bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado commented on the widespread repression and intimidation against political opposition ahead of the general elections in Uganda.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Aid agencies marked 1,000 days of war in Sudan on Friday with a grim reminder that the conflict has created the world’s biggest hunger crisis and largest displacement emergency. Every day, civilians have been “paying the price for a war they did not choose”, said the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.