<\/p>\n
Disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is increasing fuel, fertiliser and transport costs, contributing to higher food prices and placing humanitarian operations under additional pressure.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Under a moderate scenario, 22 million more people could become food insecure by December. Women and girls would account for 53% of those affected. UN Women stressed that the estimates were scenarios intended to support preparedness rather than forecasts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
About 208 million women and girls across the countries assessed were already food insecure or undernourished before the latest escalation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Women said South Sudan faced one of the most severe risks, with approximately 852 000 additional women and girls potentially experiencing food insecurity by December.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The figure represents about 14% of South Sudan\u2019s female population, equivalent to roughly one in seven women and girls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In Sudan, women and girls could account for 56% of those additionally affected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Women identified Sudan and South Sudan as countries where severe hunger, displacement, humanitarian funding shortages and inequality were converging to magnify the shock.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The agency said women faced \u201cdouble exposure\u201d because higher prices affected household food purchases and agricultural livelihoods.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women represent almost 40% of the global agrifood workforce. Agrifood systems account for at least two-thirds of women\u2019s employment in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rising fuel, fertiliser and transport costs could therefore reduce earnings while increasing household expenditure on food.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Under a combined scenario involving sustained food, fuel and fertiliser price increases alongside reduced humanitarian assistance, 26 of the 28 countries could face high or very high exposure to overlapping risks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Women said the dominant pressures differed by country, meaning responses should be tailored to local conditions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The agency called for stronger food and cash assistance, gender-responsive social protection, nutrition services and protection of agricultural livelihoods.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women should also retain access to land, credit, farming inputs and essential services.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Agricultural support must reach producers before planting seasons to prevent higher input costs from causing smaller harvests and further food-price increases.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout early, coordinated and gender-responsive action, this escalation could deepen food insecurity and gender inequality well beyond the region,\u201d UN Women said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42552,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-47151","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The Middle East conflict could push another 11.7 million women and girls into food insecurity across 28 countries by December, United Nations (UN) Women warned on Friday.\r\n","published_date":"","news_description":"The Middle East conflict could push another 11.7 million women and girls into food insecurity across 28 countries by December, United Nations (UN) Women warned on Friday.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47152,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47151\/revisions\/47152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=47151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}