War in the Central African Republic (CAR) is causing severe food shortages. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said this week that 2.5 million people, about half the population, are hungry.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
UNICEF doctor says Syrian children need life-saving Plumpy’Nut
Deadly malnutrition is threatening Syrian children says Dr. Rajia Sharhan of UNICEF. Having just witnessed the hunger and suffering in the town of Madaya, Dr.Sharhan said yesterday “It’s becoming here more visible that malnutrition exists in the besieged areas.”
Over 13 million Syrians need humanitarian aid because of the five year civil war. But many Syrians live in areas under siege and blocked by military forces from receiving deliveries of life-saving food and medicine.
Madaya is one of those towns. This month UNICEF and other relief agencies were finally allowed back into Madaya for the first time since October. What aid workers saw was shocking. There was malnutrition and death right before their eyes.
Dr. Sharhan says “Children need Plumpy Nut, Supplementary Plumpy and Plumpy Doz in addition to micronutrient interventions.” Plumpy is an enriched peanut paste which can save children from malnutrition, but only if aid workers can reach them.
Children who suffer with malnutrition will have lasting physical and mental damage unless treated in time. Or they may perish as some have tragically in Madaya and other areas under siege.
Humanitarian agencies are demanding full and regular access to areas under siege in Syria. UNICEF’s Hanna Singer says the relief agency “reiterates its previous call on all parties to the conflict to lift the siege on communities in Syria and provide unimpeded, unconditional and sustained humanitarian access to allow teams to conduct assessments of health, nutrition and other humanitarian needs, the provision of on-site medical and nutritional therapeutic care and the immediate medical evacuation of women and children in critical condition.”
There is hope that a nationwide ceasefire can be implemented which would allow relief supplies to flow into areas of need. The ceasefire would coincide with peace talks in Geneva.
Dr. Sharhan says the relief agencies hope to send another convoy of supplies to the Madaya area on Saturday. The convoy will contain three months of supplies.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
A Holiday Gift for Hungry Children
It is the right of all children to grow up with food and education. Yet so many go without. But if we can give children worldwide a holiday gift, why not let it be school meals for the New Year.
See my commentary at The Huffington Post.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
My Orlando Sentinel Column on Nuclear Weapons
Recently, a college student in Boston asked, “How can we get young people interested in nuke disarmament?” As a presidential election year is upon us, eliminating nuclear weapons should be taking center stage as a campaign issue.
Youth, after all, have the most at stake when it comes to nukes. For it is they who will be paying for these weapons of mass destruction for years to come. And it is an expensive tab.
See my full commentary at The Orlando Sentinel:
Filed under nuclear weapons, Uncategorized
The Sound of Music and Feeding Refugees
The Sound of Music, a television adaptation starring Carrie Underwood, airs tonight on NBC. The story is based on the von Trapp family of Austria during the gathering storm of World War II.
The war in Europe led to an unprecedented number of refugees who needed food to survive. Even when the fighting ended in 1945, the struggle was far from over for the war affected population. Famine threatened as war causes food shortages. As one displaced Austrian said, “hunger is the most cruel enemy of mankind.”
Read my full commentary at The Huffington Post:
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Syria Needs Its Own Peace of Christmas Eve
Secretary of State John Kerry says, “the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support.”
Ending the civil war in Syria can bring relief to the over 13 million Syrians who have suffered from food and medicine shortages. Peace in Syria can rally all the necessary power to defeat the terrorist group ISIS (Daesh) which has thrived because of the chaos of the war.
Clearly we all need peace in Syria. That would be the best holiday gift for the whole world.
See my commentary at The Huffington Post.
Filed under History, Uncategorized
The Year America Saved Russia from Starvation
This holiday season there is a gathering storm of famine. El Nino related drought threatens over ten million with food shortages in Ethiopia. Millions of war victims are starving in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen.
These hunger emergencies demand the world’s attention. We can look to history for inspiration and remember America’s greatest Christmas gift.
It was 1921 in Russia and an AP journalist had just attended a mass in the town of Volsk. As he was leaving the church, the priest rushed after him. He had a message he wanted the reporter to share with America: Please send food and save us from starvation!
See my commentary at the History News Network.
Yemen: struggle against famine continues
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) continues to bring life-saving aid daily to starving civilians in Yemen. WFP just delivered food Thursday to the besieged city of Taiz.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Syria: airstrikes displace civilians, food supplies destroyed
The United Nations says that airstrikes by Syria‘s government and allies have intensified in the northwest part of the country. Also, in a report released yesterday, the Norwegian Refugee Council says relief agencies have been forced to suspend operations in these conflict zones. This at a time when civilians are most in need.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Central African Republic gets early holiday gift
The Central African Republic (CAR) just received an early holiday gift that will benefit hungry children and farmers. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that Germany, the United States and Japan had donated to support the Purchase for Progress plan in the CAR.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under global hunger, Uncategorized
Author William Lambers 