WFP / GAZA HUNGER FAMINE RISK

A new report predicts famine in Gaza if the conflict continues. WFP

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:46
• Production Date: 21 December 2023
• Asset Language: Arabic; English
• Corporate Name: WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME - WFP
• Subject Topical: CONFLICT; HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES; HUNGER
• Geographic Subject: GAZA
• MAMS Id: 3160349
• Parent Id: 3160349
• Alternate Title: unifeed231221g

Description

STORY: WFP / GAZA HUNGER FAMINE RISK
TRT: 02:46
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS

Shotlist

14 DECEMBER 2023, RAFAH, GAZA

1. Various shots, people dig through the rubble of a destroyed apartment house in search of survivors

21 DECEMBER 2023, ROME, ITALY

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Arif Hussain, Chief Economist, World Food Programme (WFP):
“What is happening in Gaza is unprecedented. Both in terms of its scale but also how quickly it has happened. You know, in the world right now, there are about 130,000 people who are in catastrophic levels of hunger, meaning they are starving. In Gaza, more than half a million. That is 4 times more. And that is what makes this totally unprecedented.”

14 DECEMBER 2023, RAFAH, GAZA

3. Various shots, shelves lie almost completely empty in one of the few remaining open shops

18 DECEMBER 2023, Deir AL-BALAH, GAZA

4. Various shots, families cooking near the Al-Qastal School shelter
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bisan, Palestinian:
“I hope that when this war ends, it never happens again…and I hope we can return home, even if it is destroyed, so we can get our belongings.”
6. Various shots, people on the street outside Al-Qastal School

21 DECEMBER 2023, ROME, ITALY

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Arif Hussain, Chief Economist, World Food Programme (WFP):
“We can still avoid this famine. But we need to make sure that people have food, people have water, they have shelter, they have sanitation. And for all of those things to happen, we need border crossings open so these commodities can come in. And then we need to make sure they can reach people, which means we need access pretty much everywhere throughout the Gaza Strip. And that is only possible if there is a humanitarian ceasefire.”

20 DECEMBER 2023, NEAR KEREM SHALAM CROSSING, ISRAEL

8. Various shots, convoy of 46 trucks carrying 750 metric tons of life-saving food into Gaza

Storyline

A new report predicts famine in Gaza if the conflict continues.

More than one in four households in Gaza currently face extreme hunger, and there is a risk of famine unless access to adequate food, clean water, health, and sanitation services is restored, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today.

IPC is a multi-stakeholder platform that analyses data to determine the severity and magnitude of hunger crises according to internationally recognized scientific standards.

This latest food security analysis for Gaza, which includes data from the World Food Programme (WFP), other UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, confirmed that the entire population of Gaza – roughly 2.2 million people – are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity.

The IPC report further highlighted that 26 percent of Gazans (577,000 people) have exhausted their food supplies and coping capacities and face catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and starvation.

“WFP has warned of this coming catastrophe for weeks. Tragically, without the safe, consistent access we have been calling for, the situation is desperate, and no one in Gaza is safe from starvation,” said WFP’s Executive Director Cindy McCain.

According to the IPC, there is a risk of famine occurring within the next six months if the current situation of intense conflict and restricted humanitarian access persists.

From earlier assessments, WFP food security experts had already established that Gazans have used up all their resources, livelihoods have collapsed, bakeries are destroyed, shops are empty, and families can’t find food.

People told WFP staff that they often go entire days without eating and that many adults go hungry so that children can eat.

“These are not just numbers – there are individual children, women, and men behind these alarming statistics,” said WFP Chief Economist Arif Husain. “The complexity, magnitude, and speed that this crisis has unfolded is unprecedented.”

More emergency food and multi-sectoral assistance are essential to prevent widespread deaths.

The recent seven-day pause highlighted that WFP and partners can provide assistance when the conditions allow, and the re-opening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing sets the stage for more food and other relief supplies to flow into Gaza, which needs to continue and accelerate with additional border crossings and operating conditions inside Gaza that allow for safe and orderly deliveries to all people in need.

“We cannot stand by and watch people starve. Humanitarian access is needed now for supplies to flow into and throughout Gaza and for civilians to safely receive life-saving aid,” said McCain.

“More than anything, what is needed now is peace. WFP reiterates the call for a humanitarian ceasefire - the world must come together now to save lives.”