EUROPE
UN says world's poor need $5bn
Need for aid has never been greater as crises this year displace hundreds of thousands.
22 Jul 2009 19:25 GMT
Hundreds of thousands have been displaced in new conflicts, such as the one in Pakistan [EPA]
But he said there were more people in need across the world at the moment, and more crises, so more funding was needed.
"Those overall requirements are the highest ever at mid-year, and that means the needs still to be funded, at around $4.84bn, are also the highest we've ever had," he told journalists in Geneva.
New crises
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Thousands starving in Kenya
Hunger in the Horn of Africa
New crises this year, including in Sri Lanka and Pakistan where conflicts have displaced hundreds of thousands of people, mean the UN relief agency expects to help 43 million for the year, a more than 50 per cent jump from last year's 28 million.
The effects of climate change - such as droughts – on agricultural production are hitting the poorest nations hard, such as those in Africa.
That and civil war on the continent have pushed more below the poverty line and led to African nations topping the list of those suffering the most, including Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Somalia.
Eric Munoz, who is the co-author of the 2009 World Hunger Report and represents the Bread for the World Institute, told Al Jazeera that there needs to be "a major aid push just to address immediate suffering".
Looking long term
But he added that "we need to figure out ways in the long term to deal with the structural issues that keep people in poverty".
"We have had a long history - decades worth - of ignoring agriculture in developing countries and we are sowing the legacy of that right now.