Over 1 Million People In Madagascar In Need Of Urgent Relief

Amnesty International has asked the world and Madagascar’s government to step up relief efforts for over a million people affected by drought in southern Madagascar.

More than a million people on Madagascar’s parched southern tip are on the brink of famine and some are already dying, the global rights watchdog said in a report on Wednesday released ahead of the United Nations’ climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

It called on rich nations to provide humanitarian aid and offer financial and technical support to help Madagascar adapt to climate change.

The months-long drought, stoked by climate change, is the worst in 40 years, according to Amnesty. It afflicts a region where more than 90 percent of the population live in poverty, leaving many with little choice but to migrate.

“It is a grave injustice that impacts of climate change are felt by people in developing countries the most considering that they have contributed the least to the climate crisis,” the rights group said.

The UN has repeatedly blamed climate change for the drought, which has forced people to boil weeds and cactus to survive.

In January, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for emergency aid of $35m to fight hunger in southern Madagascar.

About three-quarters of the country’s 25 million people live in poverty. Madagascar has gone through 16 recorded food crises since 1896.

Patsy Nwogu

Reporting on data-driven featured stories and investigations.

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