Abstract

14 Global Trends Between 2017 and 2018, more people were at risk of receiving an internationally led response almost starvation than at any other time since the Second doubled from 16 to 30, and the average length of World War, with 20 million people facing the threat a crisis rose from four to seven years. The human of famine in South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and cost of conflict has also continued to increase, with Nigeria. These famines are consequences of politi- a total population of concern of 70.4 million people cal decisions and a direct result of ongoing armed (including refugees, asylum seekers, returnees, conflicts. In these conditions, international humani- stateless persons and internally displaced people) tarian agencies have been facing major obstacles reported in June 2018. After years of decline, the to intervene, and have been subject to blockades, number of undernourished people rose in 2017 (to deadly attacks and political instrumentalisation. 821m people), primarily due to armed conflicts and In the course of 2018, conflict dynamics in Yemen, the consequences of climate change. In 2018, the total Syria, South Sudan and Palestine illustrated some of number of people in need of aid reached a record the ways