The humanitarian crisis in parts of the developing world could be overwhelming the capacity of the UN to deliver life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable people, the report warns. In 2017, at least 4.6 million people worldwide still experienced “extreme hunger” in which no available food was available. And 11.4 million people suffered from “chronically undernourished” conditions. The report concludes that these “crisis conditions” have to be eliminated in 50 years in order to avoid more widespread famine, which would lead to mass human suffering and death. This alarming failure of the global response and future implications are underscored by a new study of the threat of conflict among humanity’s richest nations, which has found that the number of conflicts will increase dramatically. President Trump unveiled the US government’s new National Security Strategy. “The American people deserve leaders who will put America first,” the president said. “The United States has no greater ally than the United Nations.” Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats said the US intelligence community believes “threats have never been greater”. But as world leaders rallied to condemn North Korea’s weekend launch of its Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that it is “difficult to believe” that a nuclear-armed North Korea is far away. Speaking at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly on Monday, Guterres told delegates that the world cannot afford to wait for political will to come to the fore: “We are all responsible for the pursuit of peace and stability. “But we have seen that it often takes an armed conflict to get governments to think about the costs of their actions and to accept that some measures might be beyond their means. “If we continue on our current path and in the absence of a real and effective security agenda, catastrophe is becoming unavoidable,” he said.
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