A UN official has warned that the world is facing a ‘global emergency of unprecedented magnitude’ as 345 million people remain on the verge of starvation, with 70 million forced to starvation by the Russia-Ukraine War.

Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Program, told the UN Security Council that 345 million people in the 82 countries where the agency works face severe food insecurity, two and a half times the number of people who were severely food insecure before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

Mr. Beasley highlighted that it was “incredibly distressing” that more than 50 million people in 45 countries were suffering from severe malnutrition and were “knocking at the door of starvation”.

The Security Council focused on conflict-induced food insecurity and the risk of famine in Ethiopia, northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. But Mr. Beasley and U.N. humanitarian chief Mr. Martin Griffiths warned of the food crisis in Somalia during a recent visit, and Mr. Griffiths also put Afghanistan high on the list.

The U.N. humanitarian chief cited recent assessments that identified “hundreds of thousands of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger,” meaning they are at the worst “famine” level. “Famine will happen in Somalia, be sure it won’t be the only place either.” Mr. Griffiths remarked.

Mr. Griffiths urged the Security Council to “leave no stone unturned” in trying to end the conflicts and increase humanitarian funding, saying the UN appeals in those four countries were all “less than half of the funding needed”.

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