Christy Gleason, vice president of policy, advocacy, and campaigns at Save the Children, released the following statement ahead of House and Senate hearings on the world hunger crisis:
“Our world is in the midst of a global food crisis – one we can’t continue to ignore. The facts are overwhelming, with millions of children at risk of starvation, food price inflation at record highs, unprecedented fertilizer shortages and increasing chronic hunger, to name only a few. And, unfortunately, this is only the beginning. This crisis will have dire long-term consequences for children and families.
While urgent humanitarian aid is essential, it is insufficient. We must make investments in resilience-building if we are to effectively confront this problem. We are aware of the value of making investments in things like agricultural equipment, loans for farmers, and water management techniques thanks to our work all over the world. In actuality, spending on humanitarian aid is reduced by three dollars for every dollar invested in such resilience-building efforts.
The United States took decisive leadership in the face of a comparable severe food crisis 15 years ago. To be the creative force driving long-term change, our politicians must once more work together.
We urge Congress and the Biden administration to collaborate on a bold strategy that not only works to avert a future disaster akin to this one, but also saves lives now. The United States must play a significant part in ending this crisis and proactively averting the next. Millions of livelihoods will be lost if there is weak leadership and vision. We cannot permit that to occur.
