Islamic Relief USA Calls on United Nations Member States to Take Action on Addressing the Growing Global Food Crisis

Alexandria, Va.  – Islamic Relief USA, a non-profit humanitarian and advocacy organization, Islamic Relief USA, a non-profit humanitarian and advocacy organization, has signed on to a global civil society letter urging United Nations member states to urgently address the global hunger crisis. Member states are currently meeting this week in New York City for the 77th Session of the U.N. General Assembly.

Islamic Relief USA is among the 238 organizations that signed the letter, stressing the need to take immediate action in curbing the global food crisis by responding to the current crisis and preventing future ones. Specifically, it calls on nations to save lives now by increasing emergency funding, build resilience to future food security crises, and addressing its root causes. They include climate change, conflict, rising food costs, and poverty.
Currently, some 345 million people around the world are suffering from hunger, and an additional 50 million people are one meal away from starvation.

“Addressing worldwide hunger is among Islamic Relief USA’s priorities. From our first-hand experience, we have seen the problem exacerbated over the past few years for several reasons, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous conflicts, and the worsening impacts of climate change. The world community must pull together to address this growing crisis,” said Syed M. Hassan, spokesperson for Islamic Relief USA.

The letter calls on nations to prioritize the well-being of people over their own political and economic interests.
“In a world of plenty, leaving people to starve is a policy choice. We call on you as world leaders to take urgent action to stem this crisis and prevent future ones. You must immediately deliver the funding needed to reach 50 million people on the edge of starvation to save lives NOW,” the letter reads. “You must also support vulnerable countries and communities to build resilience NOW. And you must take action to anticipate, prevent and prepare for subsequent crises to secure the future, including by delivering much needed climate finance, reallocated Special Drawing Rights, and meaningful debt relief.”

“We repeatedly miss the opportunity to prevent hunger and hardship from happening in the first place by not responding quickly enough to early warnings to save lives, build resilience, and make the smart investments needed to sustainably address hunger crises in the long term,” the letter continues. “If the pandemic taught us anything it is that prevention is more humane and much less expensive than waiting to respond. The lack of political will and institutional failure to act quickly before the worst-case hits means people are being left to lurch from crisis to crisis. People are not starving; they are being starved.”

Various solutions are also provided for governments to address the crisis, including:

*Support local organizations who are most familiar with the on the ground situations.
*Ensure humanitarian access through increased humanitarian diplomacy.
*Support programs that are gender- and age-sensitive to ensure their needs don’t go unfulfilled.
*Strengthen food systems to support local farmers, local markets and minimize negative impacts on trade.
*Improve early warning systems.
*Accelerate climate mitigation and adaptation efforts by providing $600 billion dollars in financing through 2025.
*Fully fund nutrition programs
*Reallocate 100 billion to the international monetary fund.

MEDIA CONTACT

Syed M. Hassan
media@irusa.org or
(571) 421-7032 (CELL)

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Islamic Relief USA meets all of the Standards for Charity Accountability of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a national charity monitoring group affiliated with the Better Business Bureau system. Islamic Relief USA is on the U.S. government’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity list, and it is also a signatory to the code of conduct of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.