The UN called for the urgent opening of Ukraine's ports against the global hunger crisis.
0The UN called for the urgent opening of Ukraine's ports against the global hunger crisis.
"The world demands it because hundreds of millions of people depend on these resources," the statement said.
The United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP) called for the urgent opening of ports in the Odessa region so that food products produced in Ukraine can be freely transported to the rest of the world.
“Before the global hunger crisis gets out of hand, WFP is today calling for the reopening of ports in the Odessa region of Ukraine so that food produced in the war-torn country can be freely transported to the rest of the world,” WFP said in a written statement.
WFP Executive Director David Beasley, whose views were included in the statement, said, "Currently, Ukraine's grain silos are full. At the same time, 44 million people around the world are starving. We must open these ports so that food can enter and leave Ukraine. The world demands it because there are hundreds of thousands of people globally. "Millions of people depend on these resources. Time is running out and the cost of inaction will be higher than anyone expected."
"GRAIN WAITING IN THE WAREHOUSES WILL WASTE"
In the WFP statement, it was noted that the ports are under blockage due to the war, and therefore millions of metric tons of grain are waiting in the warehouses in Odessa and in other ports of Ukraine in the Black Sea.
Pointing out that unless the Ukrainian ports are reopened, Ukrainian farmers will have nowhere to store their products in the July-August harvest, the statement said that the grains waiting in the silos during the fight against the global hunger crisis will be wasted.
Stating that 276 million people worldwide are facing acute hunger, WFP emphasized that this number is expected to increase by 47 million if the conflict in Ukraine continues.
WFP noted that the food produced by Ukraine before the war was enough to feed 400 million people, and it was exported through ports in the Black Sea.
On the other hand, it was stated that after the month of the crisis, export prices of wheat and corn increased by 22 percent and 20 percent.