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Hunger in the News
[The following news stories are provided as a free service and for information purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Bread for the World/Bread for the World Institute. BFW/BFWI is not responsible for the accuracy of this information.]
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1.02 billion people hungry
source: FAO
19 Jun 2009
World hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2009 with 1 020 million people going hungry every day, according to new estimates published by FAO today.
The most recent increase in hunger is not the consequence of poor global harvests but is caused by the world economic crisis that has resulted in lower incomes and increased unemployment. This has reduced access to food by the poor, the UN agency said.
"A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices in many countries has pushed some 100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger and poverty," said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. "The silent hunger crisis — affecting one sixth of all of humanity — poses a serious risk for world peace and security. We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world and to take the necessary actions."
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Food prices skyrocket in Democratic Republic of Congo
source: Relief Web
19 Jun 2009
The economic crisis has significantly increased the price of staple foods in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With the cost of rice, cassava, corn, sugar, fish and bread climbing, daily life is growing very difficult for many.
Some customers at the central market in the capital city, Kinshasa, say they do not understand why food prices are rising so rapidly and so fast. "All the prices have increased," one of the regular customers at the market said. "The price of cassava flour and sugar has gone up by about 25 percent, and even though bread is the same price, its weight has significantly decreased. How will we live with this situation?
The fall in global commodity prices has hit the country especially hard, as the country depends heavily on revenues from exports such as oil, timber and copper. Following the closure of several companies in mineral-rich Katanga Province, government revenues and the Central Bank's monetary reserves have fallen. Congolese francs trading at 500 per US dollar weakened to 800, raising the prices of food and other goods and services. Such volatility makes it difficult for business owners to set prices for their products, while families are losing their purchasing power.
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No stimulus for the poor
source: The Guardian
19 Jun 2009
Last week the G8 finance ministers hailed signs of growth and stabilisation and began an "exit strategy" from the financial crisis that will entail slashing spending and cutting deficits. Such action is ignorant of the global implications of the financial crisis and the need to prevent a crisis from happening again.
A UN meeting next week will not turn its back on economic reality and the world's poor, but who will listen or care?
From 24-26 June, the UN will hold an official high-level conference on the World financial and economic crisis and its impact on development. For this meeting the UN has put together an inclusive and rigorous set of analyses and recommendations regarding the cause of the crisis, its impact on the world's poor and what to do about it.
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The World's Under-Funded Health Crises
source: Forbes
18 Jun 2009
In 2007, governments, private foundations, non-governmental organizations and development agencies spent an estimated $22 billion on global health aid, but a new study published in the Lancet reveals that the money may not reach some of the countries most in need.
Bangladesh, which has the seventh highest burden of disease of countries that receive development assistance, in the world, received only $1 billion in funding between 2002 and 2007. By comparison, Kenya received $1.2 billion during the same time period, but has the 20th highest disease burden. The report, published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle, also found a 33-fold difference between the aid received by Turkmenistan and Nicaragua, two countries with similar disease-burden rates.
Such findings aren't controversial; it's well known that aid is awarded based on several factors, including income, political stability and relationships between recipient and donor countries.
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Attacking Hunger at Its Roots
source: The Huffington Post
11 Jun 2009
This morning, one billion people around the world woke up hungry and tonight, they will go to sleep hungry. This issue has not gotten the attention it deserves, and it is a personal priority of mine and of the Obama Administration to address the challenge of chronic hunger with a very high level of focus and dedication.
Hunger is not only a physical condition. It is a drain on economic development, a threat to global security, a barrier to health and education reform, and a trap for the millions of people worldwide who work from sun-up to sun-down every day to produce a harvest that often doesn't meet their needs.
Today at the World Food Prize ceremony at the State Department, I am honoring Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, who has transformed farming in many parts of the world and saved millions of lives by identifying varieties of a key African crop resistant to drought and specific types of weeds.
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HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Release of $6 Billion in New CHIP Funds to Insure Children
source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
19 Jun 2009
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that $6 billion in new federal funds will be made available to states and U.S. territories for fiscal year 2009 to provide health care to millions of children across America through their Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP).
The new funds for CHIP were made available by the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 4. CHIPRA provides additional funding that will help states and territories maintain existing CHIP enrollment and expand their programs.
“We are taking an important step to provide quality, affordable health care to millions of children,” Secretary Sebelius said at the Bergen Family Center in Englewood, N.J. “Through CHIPRA, states and territories will receive additional funds to provide health insurance to 11 million children, including 4 million who were previously uninsured. Parents now have more help if their children fall ill.”
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One in Six Oregonians Now Count on Food Stamps
source: Salem News
16 Jun 2009
As Oregon’s unemployment figures hit historic levels, the need for basic economic support such as food stamps and cash assistance continues to grow, the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) announced today.
Need for cash assistance (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF) increased nearly 30 percent over May of 2008. Only very low-income families qualify for this assistance – the monthly income limit for a family of three is $528 – and currently 25,509 families statewide are receiving assistance.
Washington County saw the largest percentage jump with 50 percent more families needing assistance than last year at this time.
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STIMULUS WATCH: $25 check may cost you food stamps
source: AP
15 Jun 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps.
Under the economic recovery plan, laid-off workers have seen a $25 weekly bump in their unemployment checks as part of a broad expansion of benefits for the poor. But the law did not raise the income cap for food stamp eligibility, so the extra money has pushed some people over the limit.
Laid-off workers and state officials are only now realizing the quirk, a consequence of pushing a $787 billion, 400-page bill through Congress and into law in three weeks.
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The Great Unwinding
source: New York Times
11 Jun 2009
Here’s one way to look at the politics of our era: We’ve moved from The Age of Leverage to The Great Unwinding.
For about a generation, the U.S. surfed on a growing wave of debt. The ratio of debt-to-personal-disposable income was 55 percent in 1960. Since then, it has more than doubled, reaching 133 percent in 2007. Total credit market debt — throwing in corporate, financial and other borrowing — has risen apace, surging from 143 percent of G.D.P. in 1951 to 350 percent of G.D.P. last year.
Charts that mark these trends are truly horrifying. There is a steady level of debt through most of the 20th century, until the mid-1980s. Then there is a steep accelerating rise to today’s epic levels.
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