9mo ago

Famine is now probably present in Gaza, US says

www.theguardian.com Famine is now probably present in Gaza, US says

State department assessment comes after world’s top court ordered Israel to admit food aid into territory

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While we can say with confidence that famine is a significant risk in the south and centre but not present, in the north, it is both a risk and quite possibly is present in at least some areas
I'm not a doctor or anything but based on the picture in the article alone isn't "quite possibly" really underselling it?
News: at least 20 people have already died from malnutrition
US: Hmm yeah could be a famine there, not sure. Hard to tell.
- "Famine" is a technical term with quite a high threshold:
  At least 20 per cent of the population in that particular area are facing extreme levels of hunger;
  30 per cent of the children in the same place are wasted, or too thin for their height; and
  The death – or mortality – rate has doubled, from the average, surpassing two deaths per 10,000 daily for adults and four deaths per 10,000 daily for children.
  Source: UN
  
  You should check out the actual part of the UN responsible for declaring famines, the IPC. They use phases 1 through 5 to describe the severity of the situation. Northern Gaza is Stage 5 and Southern Gaza is Stage 4.
  The definition of their phases -
  Differentiation between different levels of severity of acute food insecurity, classifying units of analysis in five distinct phases: (1) Minimal/None, (2) Stressed, (3) Crisis, (4) Emergency, (5) Catastrophe/Famine.
  We are at Catastrophe. Famine is not a warning designation, it is when a lot of people start dying. The warnings have been coming for months. You do not wait until the IPC says, yup it's a famine, to treat it seriously.
  
  This. Humanitarian NGOs have been warning about this for months now. The crisis is happening right now.
  
  Thanks for the info! Didn't know about that
  
  Np. Love your username btw.
  
  Aww thanks!

38 comments