By Catherine Ageno
The UN Chief says over 20 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen are going hungry and facing devastating levels of food insecurity.
António Guterres was speaking at a press conference aimed at drawing the world’s attention to the scale of humanitarian crises unfolding in the four countries at UN headquarters in New York.
According to UN Radio, Mr Guterre says famine is already a reality in South Sudan, adding that the world must avoid a catastrophe.
The UN says humanitarian operations in these four countries require more than US$5.6 billion this year.
In Uganda, government puts the figure of the people in dire need of food at 1.6m.
Yesterday the state minister for planning David Bahati revealed that government had allocated Shs15 billion more towards addressing the food crisis in different parts of Uganda.
He said the money was raised by “making adjustments” in the budget. This brings to Shs25 billion the amount so far allocated to relief food. In total, Shs52.6 billion is needed.
