Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.

World Food Programme

Inputs from The World Food Programme to the 
2023 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 

(a) Progress, experience, lessons learned, challenges and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17 from the vantage point of your intergovernmental body, bearing in mind the three dimensions of sustainable development and the interlinkages across the SDGs and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs, 

In 2023, the hunger and malnutrition crisis continue to be driven by various converging factors. The proliferation of armed conflicts, insecurity, and civil unrest is greatly undermining food and nutrition security, destabilizing global markets and supply chains, while driving forced displacement and humanitarian needs around the world to 
historic levels. Climate shocks and disasters, including persistent droughts, floods, and intensifying weather events, are aggravating the devastating economic and financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In both developing and developed nations, massive food price inflation has occurred, accompanied by a mounting global debt crisis and looming threats of global recession. With less fertilizer in 2023, there may be reduced harvests and, potentially, localized availability crises.

Estimates from countries with WFP operational presence and available data indicate that 345.2 million people will be food insecure in 2023 .3 This is an increase of almost 200 million people since early 2020. In many countries, COVID-19 and the ripple effects of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine exacerbated pre-existing needs, pushing more people into food insecurity.

An estimated 43.3 million people across 51 countries (where data is available) are in Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity in 2023 (Integrated Phase Classification (IPC)/Cadre Harmonisé (CH) Phase 4+, including severely food insecure based on CARI).  They need urgent assistance to prevent them from falling into famine  or famine-like conditions. 

In 2023, at least 846,000 people are expected to experience Catastrophic Conditions (IPC/CH Phase 5). They are concentrated in 7 countries: Somalia, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen. This is an increase of 74,000 people compared to 2022, where 772,000 were estimated to be in Catastrophic Conditions in 6 countries.  The most recent IPC analysis from October 2022 for Afghanistan 

found no population in Catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), however, vulnerability levels continue to be among the highest worldwide, as 12 provinces remain on the brink of famine in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency conditions).

The food crisis is also a malnutrition crisis. Even before the onset of the global food crisis, 45 percent of all children under five deaths were already related to malnutrition.  However the current situation has led to an explosion in these already horrifically high rates. Globally, more than 30 million children in the 15 worst affected countries now suffer from acute malnutrition due to conflicts, climate shocks, impacts of COVID-19, and food price increases. 
In 2022, the world came together and rallied extraordinary resources to tackle the unprecedented global food crisis. But it is not sufficient to just keep people alive, we need to go further, and this can only be achieved by addressing the underlying causes of hunger

(b) Three key areas where transformative actions for accelerated progress have been successful, and three key areas where support is most urgently needed, with regard to the cluster of SDGs under review in July 2023. 

 

Documents