The gaps are astounding: this is the amount of time the UN has devoted to some 215 million starving people – compared to Gaza
- Annemeet Hasidi-van Der Leij
- Sep 15
- 7 min read
According to the World Food Programme, tens of millions of people are in acute food insecurity in areas defined as “emergencies,” among them reportedly 640,000 in Gaza and the West Bank – but the case that affects the fewest people is precisely the one that occupies the Security Council more than all the others combined. Ambassador Danon: “Sometimes there’s more than one discussion a week.” These are the numbers:
Dozens of meetings – and hours upon hours of discussions – have already been held at the UN headquarters since the outbreak of the war regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. This is an event that even in Israel was acknowledged as exceptional and difficult, but a deeper look at the data from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) compared to UN discussions reveals astonishing gaps between the severity and scale of the situation – and the disproportionate attention given to it by the Security Council.
The UN’s World Food Programme operates in 120 countries around the world, including 17 defined as in a “state of emergency” – including, as stated, “Palestine.” According to the data, 5.5 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, of whom the program estimates about 640,000 are in a state of hunger. This is compared to about 215.9 million people at risk in these countries.
According to the WFP, the actions required this year in Gaza and the West Bank currently require a significant sum of $334 million. This emergency greatly concerns the UN Security Council: since November 2023, no fewer than 60 discussions have been held in the Security Council about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, during which severe accusations were raised against Israel. That’s more than three times the number of discussions compared to second-place Sudan, whose emergency situation was discussed by the Security Council only 19 times – even though the situation there is more severe and affects 38.4 times more people (about 24.6 million out of a population of around 50 million). It’s also six times more than Haiti, where the situation is far from ideal: 5.7 million people are dealing with severe hunger, out of a population of about 11.77 million, and yet Haiti is in third place with only 10 discussions in the past two years.
And what about the 14 other countries where – according to the World Food Programme’s data – there is a significantly more severe “emergency” affecting many more people? Apparently, for the international community, this is less important.
You don’t need to go far to find the UN’s hypocrisy in its differing treatment of countries – even those bordering Israel have been defined as in an “emergency,” yet were not addressed at the UN discussion table. For example, in neighboring Lebanon, out of about 5.8 million residents, 2.5 million need UN support in the coming year, and more than a million are “struggling to put food on the table.” To deal with the crisis in Lebanon, at least until the end of this year, more than $200 million is needed, according to the WFP. But despite this terrible “emergency,” not a single Security Council discussion has been held about the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon for two years now.
The emergency in Syria, by contrast, did receive some attention from the Security Council – but only five times since November 2023. This, despite the dire data in the country, which shows that more than nine million people in Syria suffer from food insecurity, and 3.6 million others were supported by the WFP last year. Currently, it is stated, to restore WFP operations in Syria this year – a sum of $335 million is required.
In Yemen, for example, where the Houthis took an active part in the war against Israel, the “emergency” affecting about 40 million people is far more severe and significant. According to WFP data, more than 17 million people in the country suffer from food insecurity and 19.5 million require humanitarian assistance. To fund WFP activities in the country for the next two months – $577 million is required. But this dire situation has occupied the Security Council only twice in the past two years.
Even in Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia for more than three and a half years, there is an “emergency.” Five million people in the country need food and livelihood support, and another million are supported each month by the WFP. To continue WFP operations in Ukraine this year, an additional $270 million is required. But the acute humanitarian situation in Ukraine, it seems, has not occupied the Security Council in the past two years, perhaps due to the long-standing support it received from the US and Western countries.
The countries in the worst situation according to the WFP are Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Sudan, as mentioned, 24.6 million people suffer from severe hunger, and two million more are in a state of famine or at risk of famine. To continue funding WFP operations in the country over the next three months, $645 million is needed. Also in South Africa, which filed a case against Israel in The Hague, the situation is no less severe – 21 million children suffer from malnutrition, and 27 million people suffer from food insecurity. And despite the severity, South Africa was discussed by the Security Council only once in the past two years.
A serious “emergency” was also defined in Nigeria, where in the northeast of the country 30.6 million people suffer from “severe food insecurity.” In addition, 2.3 million people were displaced from their homes in northeastern Nigeria due to violent conflicts. Despite this, the Security Council has been less concerned with the situation in Nigeria over the past two years.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the WFP, 28 million people suffer from “severe food insecurity.” Besides them, almost five million children under the age of five are currently or expected to be suffering from acute malnutrition. To continue operating in the country over the next two months – WFP needs $433 million. Accordingly, they also received just one official discussion in the Council.
Also in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and countries in the Sahel region of Africa, there is a significant “emergency” in terms of hunger. In Myanmar, 16.7 million people suffer from food insecurity – a topic that concerned the UN Security Council only once in the past two years.
Ethiopia was also only discussed once, although more than 10.2 million people in the country suffer from “severe food insecurity,” and in the past year the WFP supported 3.5 million people in Ethiopia. To continue providing “life-saving assistance and strengthening resilience in the country” this year, WFP needs $150 million.
In Afghanistan, which was taken over by the Taliban just two years before October 2023, the numbers are not far behind. 9.5 million people in Afghanistan suffer from severe food insecurity out of a population of about 42.65 million, and nearly 5 million women and children need treatment for malnutrition. To continue operating in the country until February 2026, the WFP urgently needs $568 million. The Security Council has discussed the situation in Afghanistan only twice since October 2023. In the Sahel region, 10 million people suffer from “acute hunger,” and the WFP needs a budget of $620 million to continue its operations. The Council discussed the situation there once in the past two years.
Haiti, Mozambique, Somalia, and South Sudan have also been included in the World Food Program's list of countries in "emergency." According to data from the UN World Food Program, 5.7 million people in Haiti are facing "acute hunger." In addition, the program has helped 1.7 million people in the country during the year, and needs $46.4 million to continue operating there in the coming month. Haiti is the country with the third highest number of discussions in the UN Security Council - with ten discussions in the past two years. A tiny amount of work compared to the 60 discussions that Israel has received.
In Mozambique, five million people are food insecure, and the World Food Programme needs $147 million to provide an “emergency response” by next month.
Somalia has engaged the UN twice, and 4.6 million people in the country suffer from “high levels of acute food insecurity,” and 1.8 million children under five are acutely malnourished. To continue operating in the country until the end of the year, the UN World Food Programme needs $266 million.
In South Sudan, 7.7 million people are severely food insecure, and two districts in the country are at risk of famine. The World Food Programme needs $274 million to continue its operations in the country until the end of the year. In the past two years, the situation in South Sudan has preoccupied the UN seven times.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, says that "since October 2023, dozens of targeted discussions have been held at the UN on the situation in Gaza, sometimes even more than one discussion a week. The scope and intensity of the engagement in Gaza are unprecedented compared to other humanitarian crises that are defined by the UN agencies themselves as much more difficult: in Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia and Ethiopia, where millions of people are on the brink of starvation and death. There have been almost no discussions in the Security Council on the situation in these countries in the past year."
He says, "Instead of fulfilling its role as an international body, which divides attention equally between the crises, the UN chooses to focus obsessively on Gaza in numerous and lengthy discussions, where a one-sided picture is always presented that blames Israel and completely ignores Hamas's responsibility. "This is not a universal humanitarian concern but a cynical use of the UN to serve political ends."
Comments