G7 Must Deliver on Commitment to End Hunger - and UK Should Lead by Example

The latest Global Report on Food Crises, launched on 5 May 2021 reveals the magnitude of food crises worsened in 2020 as protracted conflict, the economic fallout of COVID-19 and weather extremes exacerbated pre-existing fragilities. The G7 Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Crises Compact, led by the UK, was published on the same day. The Compact aims to prevent famine in 2021 and begin to stem the growth of humanitarian need.

Alexandra Angulo, Executive Director at Mercy Corps says:

“The G7's pledge to step up to help the millions of people facing the devastating prospect of famine is welcome and urgently needed.

As we grapple with the triple threat of COVID-19, conflict and the climate crisis, the threat of famine looms for the world’s poorest. From Yemen to South Sudan and Ethiopia, some 155 million people were in urgent need of food last year - a 20 million increase since 2019. The picture is also looking grim for the coming year.

We fully agree that much more must be done to get lifesaving aid to those facing hunger today, and to anticipate future crises. We are pleased to see G7 nations committing to addressing critical funding gaps.

However, millions will remain trapped living precariously on the edge of hunger until we can get at the critical root causes, particularly conflict. This means not only diplomatic action to ensure humanitarian access and supporting peace processes, but also stepping up crucial investments in conflict prevention and peacebuilding and addressing poor governance and inequality.

In this way, the UK’s recent round of aid cuts, including to the three countries facing the worst food crises, has been deeply concerning.

We hope world leaders will use the G7 Summit in June and other key moments this year to galvanise transformative action to finally put an end to the travesty of millions of people living in the shadows of hunger.”