A small group of extremely wealthy individuals can help solve the world hunger crisis with just a small figure of net worth, says the director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
Billionaires need to "get up now at the same time," WFP chief David Beasley said in an interview with CNN, specifically mentioning the two richest people in the world, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
"$ 6 billion to help the 42 million people who will literally die if we do not help them. It is not complicated," he added.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a net worth of nearly $ 289 billion, according to Bloomberg, which means Beasley is only claiming 2% of his fortune. The net worth of American billionaires has almost doubled since the pandemic began.
A "storm" of several crises, such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, means many nations are "knocking on the door of hunger," Beasley said.
Half of Afghanistan's population, 22.8 million people, is facing an acute hunger crisis, according to a WFP report released Monday, where 3.2 million children under the age of five are at risk.
A series of reports from the Biden administration issued a stern warning last week: The effects of climate change will be far-reaching and pose a problem for any government.
Last year, the World Food Program received the Nobel Peace Prize "for efforts to combat hunger, to contribute to the improvement of peace in conflict-affected areas, and to act as a driving force in efforts to prevent hunger as a weapon of war." and conflict ”.
