
Global Hunger Hits Crisis Levels: WFP's Cindy McCain
Clip: 5/5/2023 | 5m 43sVideo has Closed Captions
Cindy McCain joins the show.
At the helm of the World Food Programme during this tense time is Cindy McCain, former ambassador and widow of Senator John McCain. She’s just one month into the job, and the challenges go way beyond Sudan. The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, regional conflict, and climate change.
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Global Hunger Hits Crisis Levels: WFP's Cindy McCain
Clip: 5/5/2023 | 5m 43sVideo has Closed Captions
At the helm of the World Food Programme during this tense time is Cindy McCain, former ambassador and widow of Senator John McCain. She’s just one month into the job, and the challenges go way beyond Sudan. The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, regional conflict, and climate change.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSidney McCain joins me now from Nairobi Kenya, welcome to our program.
Can you who are dedicated to feeding people in these emergencies do it?
Sidney: as you know, there is food insecurity around the globe, at this point we do not have enough money we need more money.
With that said in a place like Sudan, we want everyone to know that we never left Sudan even though it became -- obviously he lost three people.
We've had very dicey situations.
We are working in the East now, and in those places we are relatively safe.
I want you to know that WP never left.
This is what we do and this is how we do it.
Those of all, if I could say anything I am so proud of the WP people who are working on the ground in Sudan, it is tense place right now.
Christiane: The Secretary-General is there, you must be attending these meetings, what are you trying to hammer out, now?
Sidney: we have called for and enacted a complete ability for all of our human agencies to -- you and agencies to get in and work.
We are trying to hammer out funding, security issues, and where to go with this, and most of all trying to make sure that all of us are on the same page with regards to what's going on and how to proceed.
>> It is disturbing to hear that a major U.N. agency is short of funds in these kinds of emergencies but also, we here today, that the insecurity in Sudan has led not only to the killing of some of your staffers but to the looting of your food.
If I'm not mistaken, something like $14 million, $14 million worth of food is taken from the trucks.
Is this desperate, hungry people or warlords trying to sell it off.
Sidney: I think it's a combination of things, they have not only looted our food but some of our trucks are gone.
They have completely gone into our housing and destroyed that.
It is an all out to Wilding as far as I am concerned in Sudan.
The important thing to can -- at the important thing to remember is, that the human agencies are trying to figure out how we can get into more places and try to provide food to those who are most vulnerable and left behind because of this.
The entities usually women -- and it is usually women and children.
Christiane: There are so many, tens of thousands possibly hundreds of thousands of people, the human agencies warns that nearly 800 thousand people may flee to neighboring countries.
We can see boatloads of people being taken to Saudi Arabia.
How much does this complicate, because that could grow worse, the refugee part of this with the comic crisis.
Sidney: right.
The refugee issue is very serious.
We take our job providing services for them very seriously.
The whole thing is just -- it is not only outrageous, but it is very dicey.
I met with some folks that got through our double UMP folks that got through, and they are in a row be now.
The horror stories that they told me it is unconscionable.
-- they are in a row be now.
-- in Nairobi now.
The horror stories are unconscionable.
Christiane: Give me an idea, one horse story come what do you mean exactly?
Sidney: their homes were looted.
One person had a child with them, saw what was going on and hasn't spoken in a week.
It's those kinds of things, trauma and tragedy.
WP is providing counseling for those people as we should.
And always do.
Christiane: These are your staffers.
In India, ETA has been diverted and sold, as we were discussing.
This is difficult, whether in Sudan or Ethiopia, to provide food if you are in situations where you don't know if it's going to the right people not to mention the danger.
Sidney: rights, WP immediately launched a investigation with regards to the food diversion.
And more importantly, remembering that we condemn anything like that, and personally I am outraged from a WP standpoint we will not tolerate this.
We will find out exactly what happened but in the meantime, but this means is that people who would normally be distributed aid to will not get it.
More people, usually the most vulnerable are being pushed aside.
Oklahoma’s Domestic Abuse Problem
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 5/5/2023 | 16m 45s | Toni Hasenbeck joins the show. (16m 45s)
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