(June 29, 2022) –
International aid agency World Vision said today that the G7 final Summit communiqué was too focused on the Ukraine crisis and failed to offer enough solutions to avert the rapidly escalating global hunger crisis.
“While we appreciate any new G7 commitments to address the global hunger and malnutrition crisis, much, much more was desperately needed to save lives now,” says Melani O’Leary, Technical Specialist for Development Programs at World Vision Canada. “The $4.5 billion in total commitments may seem like a lot, but it works out to only $5.63 per hungry person. The Government of Canada’s $250 million contribution and donation matching fund are sorely welcomed, but Canada must be prepared to offer ongoing commitments to humanitarian efforts over the long-term. This is a truly generational crisis and the world needs to do everything possible to prevent the deaths of millions of people.”
The agency affirms that the humanitarian needs resulting from the war in Ukraine are critical. But also warns that it has had a particularly devastating global impact that must not be underestimated as a crisis piled on top of other conflicts, climate change and the lingering effects of COVID-19. As a result, nearly 50 million people will be pushed to the edge of starvation by the end of the summer.
“The G7 needed to ‘walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Kristina Kreuzer, Child Rights and Child Protection Advocacy Advisor at World Vision Germany. “Ukraine should have been discussed as part of a broader, longer-term agenda that included other crises impacting so many of the world’s poor.”
Ms Kreuzer added that, like previous years, the G7 had “barely considered” children’s rights in their deliberations or the final communiqué. “World Vision recently researched how often children were mentioned in the outcome documents of the last few G7 Summits and were astonished by the low consideration of children and their portrayal as victims. This year was no better,” she said.