Catastrophic hunger

It would be difficult for us to imagine extreme hunger here in our corner of the world, especially this Christmas season. The Filipino Christmas, after all, is never without food, however simple.

More often than not, long tables in Filipino homes are filled to the brim for a Noche Buena feast – a smorgasbord of spaghetti, noodles, lechon, cheese, wine, fruits and what-have-you. Those who don’t want to cook are in restaurants or in five-star hotels dining out with the whole family.

Visit any Filipino home and even those who barely have anything to share will offer you whatever they have, however little. Neighbors help each other. In fact, those who can barely feed their families are the ones more willing to share.

Even people sleeping on the streets receive a bit more kindness during this time of the year. I know this because as I strolled along a busy boulevard on Christmas Eve, I saw a group of Badjaos receive boxes of packed food from strangers.

Unfortunately, the situation is bleak and unimaginable tens of thousands of kilometers away from our home country, there in faraway and conflict-ridden Gaza.

My heart and thoughts are in that warzone. It’s heartbreaking to see this humanitarian crisis unravel and unfold and now develop into a crisis of epic proportions.

Because of the conflict, there is a risk of famine occurring within the next six months if the current situation of intense conflict and restricted humanitarian access persists, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

IPC is a multi-stakeholder platform that analyses data to determine the severity and magnitude of hunger crises, according to internationally-recognized scientific standards.

As noted in a recent report by the World Food Program (WFP), based on the latest food analysis of IPC, roughly 2.2 million people are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity.

“The IPC report further highlighted that 26 percent of Gazans (576,600 people) have exhausted their food supplies and coping capacities and face catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and starvation,” WFP said.

“WFP has warned of this coming catastrophe for weeks. Tragically, without the safe, consistent access we have been calling for, the situation is desperate, and no one in Gaza is safe from starvation,” said WFP’s executive director Cindy McCain.

Days without food

“Gazans have used up all their resources, livelihoods have collapsed, bakeries are destroyed, shops are empty and families can’t find food. People told WFP staff that they often go entire days without eating and that many adults go hungry so that children can eat,” WFP said.

These are not just numbers, said WFP chief economist Arif Husain, in the report.

“There are individual children, women and men behind these alarming statistics.”

What to do then?

UN member-states must push for more access to emergency food and multi-sectoral assistance. This is essential to prevent wide-spread deaths.

“The recent seven-day pause highlighted that WFP and partners can provide assistance when the conditions allow, and the re-opening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing sets the stage for more food and other relief supplies to flow into Gaza, which needs to continue and accelerate with additional border crossings and operating conditions inside Gaza that allow for safe and orderly deliveries to all people in need,” WFP said.

As individuals, there are ways by which we can donate whatever we can to help raise funds for aid for families in Gaza who have lost everything.

“Even bread, the cornerstone of every Palestinian diet, has now become a rarity,” says the UN WFP in its call for donations.

The issues behind the conflict are complicated but I fervently hope that for humanitarian reasons, aid and food would be allowed to reach the people of Gaza.

How sad that this is happening in the normally bustling birthplace of Jesus Christ. There are no celebrations in Bethlehem this year, as the war in Gaza continues.

This year, the usual nativity scene in Manger Square – featuring baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and farm animals – is placed amid rubble and razor wire, according to CBC News.

Humanitarian access

I join aid agencies in calling for humanitarian access for food and other essential life-saving necessities, including medicines and water, for those caught in conflict, especially the children.

“We cannot stand by and watch people starve. Humanitarian access is needed now for supplies to flow into and throughout Gaza and for civilians to safely receive life-saving aid,” said WFP’s McCain.

“More than anything, what is needed now is peace. WFP reiterates the call for a humanitarian ceasefire – the world must come together now to save lives.”

When one wishes for peace on earth and goodwill to men, it all sounds like a cliche, the kind you hear uttered only by candidates in hilarious beauty pageants.

But now, more than ever, there should be no aspiration bigger than this.

May this humanitarian crisis come to an end.

May there be peace on earth and may all of us come together to call for an end to this conflict.

May we long for this not just during this Christmas season but for all the days of our lives – love, kindness and a better world for man, woman and child.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.