World's Hungers

The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa is getting worse and could tip into famine if the next harvest fails, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. Food production across the Horn of Africa has suffered because of poor rains while global food prices have risen. Some African countries already have the lowest GDP per capital income in this poorest region of the world, recent high inflation rate and adverse effect of global warming couple with AIDS and Cholera outbreak will have a devastating effect on majority of the poor masses in the months ahead.

In Somalia, fighting between the government and Islamists has left millions hungry. Conflict also affects parts of Ethiopia. United Nations estimated nearly 17 million people mainly children and infants are in urgent need of food and other aids across the Horn of Africa, with donors having contributed only half the $1.4 billion needed to feed them for the rest of the year. To make matter worst, adults in these impoverished nations are more interested in fighting and power struggle than preparing for the impending natural disaster and feeding the children .

A British minister sharply attacked the United Nations on Thursday, saying the organization was not fit to lead the world's drive to eradicate poverty."Reform is urgent." the minister told U.N.

He was speaking at the end of a fact-finding mission to assess the U.N.'s work in Africa, called for reform in areas such as the United Nations' leadership, humanitarian assistance and performance. His demand that the United Nations meet tough performance targets comes as the U.N. and aid partners voice fears that countries will cut back on aid commitments as the global financial crisis puts their budgets under pressure. The mission convinced him there was a need for more transparency and streamlining in the way the United Nations operated.

Director of the U.N.'s Millennium Campaign which has set goals to halve extreme poverty and boost life expectancy by 2015, told Reuters many donor countries gave money to the wrong places for the wrong things; it's not going to the poorest countries for meeting the goals. Half of it goes for political interests, for opening up markets and other things.