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00:00We are joined now by Jean-Michel Grand, Executive Director of Action Against Hunger UK.
00:07Thank you very much for joining us here on France 24.
00:11Now forgive me by starting this way, but it is Christmas here in Europe,
00:15so we're often hearing this band-aid Christmas song
00:18that raised money for the Ethiopian famine 40 years ago.
00:22Now all these decades later, is the situation worse or is it getting better?
00:28Despite some progress in some regions and countries,
00:34unfortunately there are still around 700 million people who are suffering from hunger
00:40and within that around 47 million children under five years old were severely malnourished.
00:47So we can't say that the situation has improved,
00:50and in fact it has deteriorated worse than 10 years ago.
00:55More worrying is that, as we can see in your pictures now,
00:59is that severe food insecurity and the risk of famine are on the rise
01:05and starvation is proliferating as a weapon of war.
01:09So the idea of achieving the sustainable development goal,
01:15it means to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030, is now unreachable.
01:21Now you say that the situation seems to be worsening.
01:24What are the main causes at the moment?
01:28Conflict. First of all, conflict is definitely the main driver of hunger.
01:38And in addition to that, we have the increasing impact of climate change,
01:42economic challenges and gender inequalities are the four main drivers.
01:47But conflict by far, and we have seen that all over the news,
01:52are by far the biggest driver of hunger.
01:56So what actions has Action Against Hunger been able to take to try to remedy this?
02:03First of all, the first thing is that we are trying to save lives, first things first.
02:11So we are providing humanitarian assistance in all countries where there is high needs.
02:18And you mentioned Gaza, but also there is a massive risk of famine
02:25and a worrying situation in Sudan, in Yemen, in Burkina, in Mali.
02:32So I think that we are, first of all, providing humanitarian assistance.
02:37Secondly, we are treating severely malnourished children.
02:42By year, we are providing treatment to around 700,000 children.
02:48But we are also looking at the root causes and how we can mitigate, detect, mitigate,
02:56prevent some hunger and malnutrition to happen through water and sanitation,
03:03through agriculture and food security, through mental and psychological support.
03:08So trying to understand what are the causes, what are the drivers of hunger
03:12and how as an organisation we can mitigate so that people can be better,
03:19in a better situation to face hunger and fulfil a wealthy life.
03:27And right now in the Northern Hemisphere, it's winter.
03:29How does that affect people struggling with hunger?
03:33Obviously, the winter, especially in conflict areas, is aggravating the situation
03:42and accelerating the risk for the population.
03:46So what we are doing as an organisation is that we are trying to help them
03:51with a provision of rehabilitation of shelters, hot meal distribution,
03:57or we are also distributing food kits so that people can cook hot meal at homes.
04:05We have winterisation kits, including fuel, kitchen utensils,
04:11and obviously warm clothing and blankets.
04:15So trying to help people to go through this harsh winter in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Afghanistan,
04:25everywhere where people are facing a dire situation with the coming winter today.
04:33Do you have any positive case studies where the famine or the hunger is starting to go away now?
04:43There are cases. I think you have cases.
04:46Fortunately for us, the situation is not all bad.
04:51And I think over the decades, child mortality has decreased.
04:57It's just that these last 10 years, it seems that we are stepping back.
05:02We are backwards.
05:05Just to give you an idea, today there is around 52 conflicts in the world.
05:09That's the highest number of conflicts since World War II.
05:13So there has been progress, and suddenly over the last 5-10 years, all the things are backwards.
05:20However, there has been progress in Bangladesh, in part of Bangladesh or Mozambique,
05:27where there has been progress in agriculture,
05:31but also any countries or any region where there was more justice or gender rights,
05:40where women were given more power in the decision,
05:44more access to assets and land or in decision-making.
05:49We have noticed, there was noticeable progress combating hunger.
05:54And to what extent have you noticed that, you've mentioned it already, but climate change also.
05:59How is that complicating things?
06:03Climate change is accelerating, so we have crisis.
06:07So we have seen the flooding and the drought,
06:11which is really affecting the ways of that people's livelihood.
06:17Especially, there is more and more tension between pastoralists and farmers on access to land, access to water.
06:26So there is really an effect.
06:29And so we have to work with the population in how we can improve their resilience,
06:34how they can be better adapted to the climate change.
06:38So I think that it's not about bringing back people where they were before,
06:41it's really to make sure that they are better adapted and resilient for future crisis.
06:47So we have to work with the population in this transition towards more and more climate crisis.
06:58Jean-Michel Grond, Executive Director at Action Against Hunger.
07:02Thank you very much for being with us with that analysis.
07:05Thank you very much. You're welcome.