CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Chief Ahmad Abul Gheit stressed Tuesday the importance of mobilizing international efforts to tackle challenges to water and food security in the Arab region, according to AL statement.
"Nearly seven million persons in Yemen, which has been experiencing a fierce civil war, are facing the dangers of famine, which made the country a base for the severest food security crisis in the modern history," Abul-Gheit said in his speech at the 40th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Conference, currently in session in Rome.
The armed conflicts in countries of Syria, Libya and Somalia are similar (to Yemen), which require unifying regional and international efforts to provide necessary aid for people in harm, the AL statement quoted Abul Gheit as saying.
The AL Chief highlighted "the region is subject to water scarcity, drought and food insecurity, which are all phenomenon that have been growing since civil wars erupted in some Arab countries after 2011 Arab Spring uprisings."
The FAO Conference which groups over 600 high-level government officials and representatives from 194 countries will be concluded on July 8.
The conference mainly focuses on issues and policies related to global food security.
Abul Gheit added the water, agriculture and climate changes files are main reasons for instability of the region, and will shadow negative impact on the future of the regional countries.
According to a 2016 report of the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) which is co-sponsored by the United Nations Food Agency, nearly 108 million people were reported to be facing crisis-level food insecurity, a drastic increase from the previous year's total of almost 80 million.
The FSIN report added that in 2017, widespread food insecurity is likely to persist in Iraq, Syria (including its refugees in neighboring countries), Malawi and Zimbabwe.
It added there is a high risk of famine in some areas of north-eastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen because of armed conflict, drought and macro-economic collapse.
