In 2017, 124 million people across 51 countries faced crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse, requiring urgent humanitarian action—an 11% increase compared to 2016. It also is estimated that 155 million children are chronically malnourished, with a majority living in fragile and conflict-affected states. During the World Bank’s Spring Meetings in April 2017, co-hosted by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, participants endorsed a "zero tolerance" for famine and urged the Bank and its partners to "do more, and do better" to anticipate and respond to these crises.
Over the last few months, the World Bank has partnered with key UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross—with support from leading global technology firms—to develop the Famine Action Mechanism (FAM)—a Global Public Good which seeks to formalize, strengthen and incentivize the links between famine early warnings, finance and implementation arrangements.
This event provides a forum for showcasing the partnerships and progress made in the last year to develop the FAM at global and country levels.
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