Hunger, conflict and human costs of war

Mahatma Gandhi had said that there are people in the world who are so hungry that God can only appear to them in the form of bread. Hunger is one of humanity’s worst enemies and has driven millions of people to despair; it has also provided the subject for powerful literature, of which French writer Victor Hugo’s classic ‘Les Misérables’ is an excellent example.

In her article ‘Let Them Eat Bread: The Theft That Helped Inspire Les Misérables’, which appeared in March 2017 in ‘npr’ (National Public Radio), Nina Martyris wrote:

“On a bitterly cold day in February 1846, the French writer Victor Hugo was on his way to work when he saw something that deeply affected him. A thin young man with a loaf of bread under his arm was led away by the police. Bystanders said he was arrested for stealing the bread. He was dressed in mud-splattered clothing, his bare feet in clogs and his ankles wrapped in bloody rags instead of stockings.

“It made me think,” wrote Hugo. “In my eyes, the man was no longer a man, but the specter of la misère, of poverty.” In his novel, Hugo portrays the family’s circumstances in these few short lines: “A very harsh winter came. Jean had no job. The family had no bread. No bread literally. Seven children!”

Jean Valjean is sentenced to five years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread! He attempted to escape four times, and each time his sentence was extended by three years; he was also given an additional two years for resisting recapture once during his second escape. After nineteen years in prison he was released, but according to the law he had to carry a yellow passport stating that he was an ex-convict, an outcast. Hugo uses that bread to address society’s criminal indifference to poverty and hunger and to highlight the injustice of the penal system.

‘Les Misérables’ should have awakened the conscience of humanity, but one has to wonder whether it succeeded. As former US President Dwight Eisenhower said: “Every weapon that is made, every warship that is launched, every missile that is fired, is ultimately a theft from those who starve and are not fed, those who are cold have and are not clothed.”

As the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps puts it: “Hunger and malnutrition pose the greatest health risks worldwide – greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Globally, food deprivation still claims the life of a child every three seconds, and almost half of all deaths in children under five are due to malnutrition.” Eveyone.org, another charity, says: “Every hour of the day, 300 children die from malnutrition. It is an underlying cause of more than a third of child deaths – 2.6 million per year.”

There is an urgent need to take action against such a situation on a war footing.

Unfortunately, the global famine-related situation is only getting worse. According to a United Nations report released on October 31, 2024, acute food insecurity will increase in both magnitude and severity in 22 countries and territories. The report – ‘Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP Early Warnings on Acute Food Insecurity’ – released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and improve livelihoods and prevent famine and deaths in hotspots where acute hunger is at high risk of worsening between November 2024 and May 2025.

According to the report, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali are still at the highest alert level and need the most urgent attention. Conflict is the main cause of hunger in all these areas. In all the hotspots that pose the greatest challenge, there are communities already facing or at risk of famine, or catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity. Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of high concern, with a large number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening factors expected to further intensify life-threatening conditions in the coming months. It warns that the La Niña weather pattern could impact the climate through March 2025, endangering fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.

The report also warns that the spread of conflict, especially in the Middle East, combined with climate and economic stressors, is pushing millions of people to the brink of famine. The report highlights the regional consequences of the Gaza crisis, which has left Lebanon embroiled in conflict.

The need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza cannot be overstated. The official death toll in Gaza now stands at 43,259 people, with 101,827 injured, but the actual number of victims is believed to be much higher. Furthermore, if people don’t die from Israeli bombing, they will starve to death. The UN report states that approximately 495,000 people (20 percent of Gaza’s population) are already facing famine, and that 96 percent of Gaza’s population faces severe food insecurity. In addition, 41 percent of the population, or 876,000 people, will face “emergency” levels of hunger from November to the end of April.

Hopes for a ceasefire appear to have faded as Israel’s deadly onslaught on Gaza and Lebanon continues, killing hundreds of people and displacing countless others almost every day. Hamas has reportedly received a proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar for a short-term ceasefire in Gaza, but has rejected it as it does not imply a permanent cessation of aggression or the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli military’s own figures, just over 26,399 tons of food aid entered all of Gaza in October, compared to almost 76,000 in September and an average of 95,513 tons per month this year. people inside. More than 500 trucks remain stuck on the Gaza side of the border, where the U.N. says it is struggling to retrieve cargo due to Israeli military operations, lawlessness and other obstacles.

The Israeli parliament’s October 28 decision to ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has further hampered the delivery of crucial aid to Gaza as Israel continues its assault there. The ban will take effect over the next three months and is part of an effort by Israeli officials to dismantle it following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Israel accused 19 UNRWA employees of involvement in the attacks; a UN investigation concluded that ten may have been involved and dismissed these individuals, but no evidence was found to support the other cases. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening due to the ban on UNRWA.

Cindly McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Program, said: “It is time for world leaders to act and work with us to reach the millions of people at risk of starvation – by providing diplomatic solutions to conflict and using their influence to enable humanitarian organizations to work safely, and mobilizing the resources and partnerships needed to end global hunger.” QU Dongyu, Director-General of FAO, echoed these sentiments: “If we want to save lives and prevent acute hunger and malnutrition, we urgently need a humanitarian ceasefire and access to and availability of restore highly nutritious food, including reactivating local food production. .”

World leaders must prioritize conflict resolution to protect the most vulnerable populations on the brink of famine. We need longer-term stability and food security. Peace is a prerequisite for food security. Access to nutritious food is not just a basic need, it is a basic human right.

In short, we as individuals also have a responsibility. We should not ignore the sight of hunger whenever we see it. In such difficult times, the words of Mother Teresa must guide us: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.”

The writer is a retired Indian diplomat and had previously served as Consul General in New York. The opinions expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost.