UN's Guterres Says 130 Million People Face Starvation Risk by Year End

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the 10th ASEAN-UN Summit in Bangkok on November 3, 2019 | Photo: AFP
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the 10th ASEAN-UN Summit in Bangkok on November 3, 2019 | Photo: AFP
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UN's Guterres Says 130 Million People Face Starvation Risk by Year End

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the 10th ASEAN-UN Summit in Bangkok on November 3, 2019 | Photo: AFP
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the 10th ASEAN-UN Summit in Bangkok on November 3, 2019 | Photo: AFP

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that efforts must be made to ensure sustainable and healthy diets for all and to minimize food waste.

"We need to ensure sustainable and healthy diets for all, and to minimize food waste," the UN chief said in a message for the World Food Day, which falls on Oct. 16.

"In a world of plenty, it is a grave affront that hundreds of millions go to bed hungry each night," said the secretary-general, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has further intensified food insecurity to a level not seen in decades.

"Some 130 million people risk being pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of this year," said Guterres. "This is on top of the 690 million people who already lack enough to eat."

"At the same time, more than 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. As we mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, we need to intensify our efforts to achieve the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals," said the UN chief. "That means a future where everyone, everywhere, has access to the nutrition they need."

Noting that he will convene a Food Systems Summit to inspire action towards this vision next year, the secretary-general said that "we need to make food systems more resistant to volatility and climate shocks."

"And we need food systems that provide decent, safe livelihoods for workers. We have the know-how and the capacity to create a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world," said the UN chief. "On this World Food Day, let us make a commitment to 'Grow, Nourish, and Sustain. Together.'"

World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year around the world on Oct. 16 in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The World Food Programme got the Nobel Prize in Peace for the year 2020 for its efforts to combat hunger, contribution to make peace in conflicted areas, and for playing role of driving force to stop the use of hunger in the form of a weapon for war and conflict.



Large Earthquake Hits Battered Vanuatu

A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
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Large Earthquake Hits Battered Vanuatu

A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu's main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, five days after a more powerful quake wreaked havoc and killed 12 people.

The nation's most populous island, Efate, is still reeling from the deadly 7.3-magnitude temblor on Tuesday, which toppled concrete buildings and set off landslides in and around the capital of Port Vila.

The latest quake occurred at a depth of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and was located some 30 kilometers west of the capital, which has been shaken by a string of aftershocks.

No tsunami alerts were triggered when the temblor struck at 2:30 am Sunday (1530 GMT Saturday).

Port Vila businessman Michael Thompson told AFP the quake woke his family.

"It gave a better bit of a shake and the windows rattled a little bit, it would have caused houses to rattle," he said.

"But you know, no movement other than a few inches either way, really. Whereas the main quake, you would have had like a meter and a half movement of the property very, very rapidly and suddenly.

"I'd describe this one as one of the bigger aftershocks, and we've had a fair few of them now."

Thompson said there was no sign of further damage in his immediate vicinity.

The death toll remained at 12, according to government figures relayed late Saturday by the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office.

It said 210 injuries had been registered while 1,698 people have been temporarily displaced, citing Vanuatu disaster management officials.

Mobile networks remained knocked out, making outside contact with Vanuatu difficult and complicating aid efforts.

In addition to disrupting communications, the first quake damaged water supplies and halted operations at the capital's main shipping port.

The South Pacific nation declared a seven-day state of emergency and a night curfew following the first quake.

It announced Saturday it would lift a suspension on commercial flights in an effort to restart its vital tourism industry.

The first were scheduled to arrive on Sunday.

Rescuers Friday said they had expanded their search for trapped survivors to "numerous places of collapse" beyond the capital.

- Still searching -

Australia and New Zealand this week dispatched more than 100 personnel, along with rescue gear, dogs and aid supplies, to help hunt for trapped survivors and make emergency repairs.

There were "several major collapse sites where buildings are fully pancaked", Australia's rescue team leader Douglas May said in a video update on Friday.

"We're now starting to spread out to see whether there's further people trapped and further damage. And we've found numerous places of collapse east and west out of the city."

Thompson said power had been restored to his home on Saturday but said many others were still waiting.

"We're hearing a lot of the major businesses are still down, supermarkets are trying to open back up," he said.

"So this is very different to what's happened with disasters here in the past.

"Cyclones destroy everything outside, whereas earthquakes really destroy a lot of infrastructure inside the buildings."

Vanuatu, an archipelago of some 320,000 inhabitants, sits in the Pacific's quake-prone Ring of Fire.

Tourism accounts for about a third of the country's economy, according to the Australia-Pacific Islands Business Council.