UN food aid chief: 350m āmarching to starvationā
David Beasley says aid shortage means āwe have to choose between which children eatā and which donāt
The outgoing chief executive of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley has told the Ö÷²„“óŠć that 350 million people around the globe are āmarching to starvationā.
Speaking from the UN food aid organisationās headquarters in Rome, Mr Beasley said that of that number, 50 million people in 50 countries were āknocking on famineās doorā and had to get food otherwise āclearly will dieā.
Asked by Sarah Montague how difficult decisions are made in terms of who will be fed, Mr Beasley said: āI had somebody that said to me one day āYouāve got the greatest job on the planet ā saving the lives of millions of people every dayā. And I said, āI do, I really doā.ā
āBut I want to tell you something that is going to bother you. I donāt go to bed at night thinking about the children we saved. I go to bed at night heartbroken about the children we couldnāt save.
āAnd we donāt have enough moneyā¦ we have to choose which children eat, which children donāt eat, which children live, which children die.ā
āWe reach the most vulnerable first. We donāt have enough money and when you think about the fact that there is $400 trillion worth of wealth on planet Earth a day, how in the name of God can we be in this situation where we donāt have enough food to feed hungry children?ā
Mr Beasley is stepping down after six years in the role.