UN Humanitarian Affairs Office Urges World To Help Alleviate Climate Change In Madagascar

The international community must urgently increase its support to people facing severe hunger and other consequences of climate change in the Grand Sud region of Madagascar, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Madagascar at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Issa Sanogo, said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2021) The international community must urgently increase its support to people facing severe hunger and other consequences of climate change in the Grand Sud region of Madagascar, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Madagascar at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Issa Sanogo, said on Thursday.

"The world cannot look away. People in Madagascar need our support now, and into the future. I call on the international community to show solidarity with the communities in the Grand Sud, who are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis," Sanogo said.

While donors have already contributed over $110 million out of the $224.

5 million required under the revised Flash Appeal issued by the UN OCHA, more is immediately required to enable humanitarian organizations to provide food, water, health services, and life-saving nutrition to nearly 1.3 million people in the Grand Sud in the months ahead, the agency noted.

Southern Madagascar is facing its most acute drought in 40 years, with the situation worsened by sandstorms and pests. According to the OCHA, between October 2020 and January 2021, less than 50% of the normal rainfall was received in the Grand Sud, devastating agricultural production and leaving more than 1.6 million unable to grow their own food for at least three years.