Sexyangel329
Honorary CF Member
This truly upsets me and for the life of me I cant understand why anyone in hte world has to go without food , why a child has to go with milk why these lil innoccent babies have to go without the simlest of things in life. I think about my son and how i get up every day and come to work to make sure he has food in his mouth annd to think parents there woudl do anything for there children and yet cant even work to provide them with what they need there was a picture along side this article of a malnutritioned child and I just wanted to cry because I wont for the life of me ever understand why we can afford to fight ridiculous "wars" but cant extend a hand to a country that has for so long been deprived of the most important yet simple thing in life food.
LONDON, England (AP) -- About 3.6 million people face starvation in the West African nation of Niger unless the international community responds urgently to the food crisis there, the aid agency Oxfam said Thursday.
Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, was devastated by an invasion of locusts that ate everything green last year and was then hit by drought that lasted until earlier this month.
The U.N.'s humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said earlier this week that 2.5 million people in landlocked Niger were in desperate need of food after the world community ignored U.N. appeals for urgent aid.
Oxfam estimated that almost one million children were at risk.
"The situation is desperate. Even the limited food that is available has soared in price, rendering it unaffordable for most families, and there is no hope of any harvest for at least three months," said Natasha Kafoworola Quist, an Oxfam spokeswoman.
"Families are feeding their children grass and leaves from the trees to keep them alive."
Oxfam said U.N. appeals for aid were "dangerously" underfunded, with only one third of the money needed from donors being pledged. In many cases, the pledged money hasn't arrived, the agency added.
The United Nations first appealed for assistance for Niger in November and got almost no response. Another appeal for $16 million in March got about $1 million. The latest appeal on May 25 for $30 million has received about $10 million.
The U.N. "needs money now. Every day that the world's richest countries look the other way, more people face starvation. They have to put their hands in their pockets before it's too late," added Quist
LONDON, England (AP) -- About 3.6 million people face starvation in the West African nation of Niger unless the international community responds urgently to the food crisis there, the aid agency Oxfam said Thursday.
Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, was devastated by an invasion of locusts that ate everything green last year and was then hit by drought that lasted until earlier this month.
The U.N.'s humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said earlier this week that 2.5 million people in landlocked Niger were in desperate need of food after the world community ignored U.N. appeals for urgent aid.
Oxfam estimated that almost one million children were at risk.
"The situation is desperate. Even the limited food that is available has soared in price, rendering it unaffordable for most families, and there is no hope of any harvest for at least three months," said Natasha Kafoworola Quist, an Oxfam spokeswoman.
"Families are feeding their children grass and leaves from the trees to keep them alive."
Oxfam said U.N. appeals for aid were "dangerously" underfunded, with only one third of the money needed from donors being pledged. In many cases, the pledged money hasn't arrived, the agency added.
The United Nations first appealed for assistance for Niger in November and got almost no response. Another appeal for $16 million in March got about $1 million. The latest appeal on May 25 for $30 million has received about $10 million.
The U.N. "needs money now. Every day that the world's richest countries look the other way, more people face starvation. They have to put their hands in their pockets before it's too late," added Quist
