: Increasing tendency to politicize humanitarian situations is unfortunate: India at UN #IndiaNEWS #Insights The increasing tendency to politicize humanitarian situations is unfortunate, India has said

Increasing tendency to politicize humanitarian situations is unfortunate: India at UN #IndiaNEWS #Insights
The increasing tendency to politicize humanitarian situations is unfortunate, India has said at the UN, stressing that nations must resist linking developmental aid with progress in the political process as this will only enhance food insecurity in conflict situations.

Speaking at the UNSC open debate on Conflict and Food Security on Thursday, Indias Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador T S Tirumurti said there was an urgent need for the donor community to scale up assistance to conflict-affected countries, and to ensure that humanitarian agencies receive the necessary funding to fully execute their plans without politicisation of basic needs of the people.

While all humanitarian action must be primarily guided by the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, we are unfortunately witnessing an increasing tendency to politicise humanitarian situations, he said.

Such a position by donors will only enhance food insecurity in conflict situations, he added.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, addressing the Council, said that conflict drives hunger and famine; which in turn drive conflict.

If you dont feed people, you feed conflict, the UN chief said. When a country or region is gripped by conflict and hunger, they become mutually reinforcing. They cannot be resolved separately. Hunger and poverty combine with inequality, climate shocks, sectarian and ethnic tensions, and grievances over land and resources, to spark and drive conflict, he said.

Citing estimates from the World Food Programme (WFP), Tirumurti said the number of people suffering from food insecurity is projected to more than double by the end of 2020 to 270 million people, with the COVID-19 pandemic making it worse.

The Global Report on Food Crises 2020 by WFP and 15 other humanitarian and development agencies notes that more than 77 million people are suffering from acute food insecurity in conflict-affected countries.

He said the pandemic has only served to make food insecurity more complex by forcing countries to impose restrictions on the movement of people, thereby depriving farms of hands to reap the harvest, resulting in loss of farm-based employment, limiting access to food in the rural areas and eroding the ability of the State to cope with the socio-economic pressure of the pandemic.

Tirumurti also pointed out that fragile States generally have weak capacities to design, implement and monitor policies and programmes related to food, thereby increasing their vulnerability while facing a conflict situation.

The solution for lack of food security in conflict-affected States is, therefore, elsewhere.