World Bank Mobilises $1.6bn for Nigeria, Yemen, Sudan to Tackle Hunger

World Bank Mobilises $1.6bn for Nigeria, Yemen, Sudan to Tackle Hunger

The World Bank Group on Thursday revealed that it was working towards a financial package of more than $1.6 billion to build social protection systems, as well as fight the devastating levels of food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen.

Its President, Jim Yong Kim, gave the hint in Washington D.C. where he stated that famine was a stain on “our collective conscience” as millions of lives are at risk and more would die if nothing was done quickly and decisively.

A statement issued in Abuja by the Senior Communication Officer, Nigeria, Ms. Olufunke Olufon, said that the United Nations (UN) estimates that about 20 million people in Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen are on the “tipping point” of famine, while the last famine was declared in 2011 in Somalia during which 260,000 people died.

According to him, “We at the World Bank Group stand in solidarity with the people now threatened by famine. We are mobilising an immediate response for Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. Our first priority is to work with partners to make sure that families have access to food and water.”