Famine in Gaza is "imminent as 1.1 million people, half of Gaza, experience catastrophic food insecurity," according to a new assessment published on Monday, March 18, by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a partnership between international agencies (World Food Program, FAO, UNICEF, World Bank...) and non-governmental organizations (Care, Oxfam...), responsible for assessing the most acute food crises. According to Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unprecedented in both its scale and speed.
Given the challenging security situation, the analysis was conducted remotely from February 26 to March 1. There were 40 different experts from 18 different agencies who all contributed information. The analysis incorporates telephone interviews and relies on publicly available data from a variety of different sources. It has gone through a very rigorous assessment to make sure that the data collected is evidence-based and that it meets the minimum requirements set by the IPCC.
There are several criteria to be met before famine can be declared. That one in five households face an extreme shortage of food. That one in three children are acutely malnourished. And the third condition is the mortality due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease, with at least two in every 10,000 people dying daily, or four in every 10,000 children under five.
In Gaza, the report confirms that the famine threshold for household consumption has been significantly surpassed. The threshold for acute malnutrition in children has also been exceeded. But as for the mortality threshold, it still has to be monitored. But available evidence points towards a steep rise in child mortality, signaling an imminent onset of famine.
The report reflects very clearly that the situation of the entire population is critical. We're seeing a very rapid and a very steep deterioration. In December, the risk of famine was considered very likely, now it’s considered imminent. We now have one-half of the entire population in Gaza, 1.1 million people, who are considered to be at IPC level 5, which is the highest level of catastrophic hunger.
According to the latest data, virtually all households are skipping meals every day. Adults are reducing their meals so their children can eat. But the data points that in the North, the challenges are far greater. One in three children under the age of two is considered acutely malnourished in the northern governorates. In those areas, in two-thirds of households, people have gone entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days.
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