Saudi Arabia
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is when one has the lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat. This is dangerous and can be life threatening. Many people are malnourished in Saudi Arabia due to the lack of steady income and the large amount of people within poverty. The number of children malnourished younger than 5 years of age was 15,516 and 50.5% were boys. The prevalence of malnutrition moderate (6.9%) and severe underweight (1.3%) within Saudi Arabia.
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Mouzan, Mohammad I. El, Peter J. Foster, Abdullah S. Al Herbish, Abdullah A. Al Salloum, Ahmad A. Al Omar, and Mansour M. Qurachi. "Prevalence of Malnutrition in Saudi Children: A Community-based Study." Annals of Saudi Medicine. Medknow Publications, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2941251/>.
Government Assistance
In the past, Saudi Arabia was one of the largest donors to WFP, however now, they are struggling with their own citizens. According to WFP Executive Director, "The dramatic increase in Saudi donations to humanitarian causes is impressive. We are so grateful that Saudi Arabia is focusing more on hunger and malnutrition which still claim more lives than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, especially among young children." Now, Saudi Arabia’s economy is one of the most powerful in the world, however welfare programs have not kept up with the booming population that is now estimated to be over 28 million people.
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"Poverty in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The Borgen Project." The Borgen Project RSS2. N.p., 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://borgenproject.org/poverty-riyadh-saudi-arabia/>.
"UN World Food Program." Saudi Arabia Becomes Leading Donor, Fighting Hunger Worldwide. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.wfp.org/stories/saudi-arabia-becomes-leading-donor-fighting-hunger-worldwide>.
"UN World Food Program." Saudi Arabia Becomes Leading Donor, Fighting Hunger Worldwide. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.wfp.org/stories/saudi-arabia-becomes-leading-donor-fighting-hunger-worldwide>.
Causation
The main causation for hunger within Saudi Arabia is the huge wealth gap as well as the large amount of the population that are in poverty. In the graph it shows that Saudi Arabia is losing money and because of that the population is getting poorer and poorer. This effects hunger in that the people are subjected into the cycle of hunger. Although the oil sector in Saudi Arabia is flourishing, holistically the economy is struggling in other sectors of their economy. Which then leads into the vicious cycle of poverty and with poverty, there is a lack of income that can be spent on food.
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"Saudi Arabia." Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption. 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.heritage.org/index/country/saudiarabia>.
Syria
Malnutrition
This is due to poor infrastructure and is one of the major effects of the drought in the region. A three-year drought has killed the Syrian Agriculture Sector. Because of this, malnutrition has increased in the northern parts of Syria. According to a UNICEF child survival and development officer, "Stunting rates in children under five - one of the World Health Organization's (WHO) malnutrition measures - are 35 percent in the northeastern region against 22 percent in the rest of Syria." This large amount of population that are malnourished is detrimental for the future generations.
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"SYRIA: Tackling Malnutrition in the Northeast." IRINnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2015. <http://www.irinnews.org/report/85342/syria-tackling-malnutrition-in-the-northeast>.
Government Assistance
Because of Syria’s unbalanced economy, limited resources, and strained infrastructure, more and more of the Syrian population slip under the poverty line and into hunger. With that in mind, there is minimal government assistance provided within Syria because of the instability. However, there are many different other nonprofit organizations in Syria trying to alleviate the hunger, poverty, and conflicts in the area. These organizations consist of Action Against Hunger or the World Food Program.
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"Action Against Hunger." Syria. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/countries/middle-east/syria>.
Causation
A huge factor in hunger in Syria is the environment. Because of the current refugee crisis combined with the Syrian Civil War, along with terrorist groups, many of the population has been subjected into poverty. According to Save the Children's George Graham, "You have rampant inflation of food prices, lack of access to food and a huge problem reaching people in need. These are all the ingredients that lead to a food security crisis." This shows that the main causation of the hunger is the instability in Syria. The economy is suffering because of the magnitude of these conflicts.
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Craggs, Ryan. "Syrians Threatened By Hunger Amid War." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/syria-hunger-war_n_3983257.html>.
Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. People who do not consume enough food each day suffer from food insecurity are unable to obtain an efficient amount of food on daily basis. As a result people suffer from hunger and poor nutrition. The main causes of food insecurity are the impoverished people along with the lack of income due to suffering economies and a large wealth gap.
Cunningham, Margaret. "What Is Food Insecurity? - Definition, Impact & Prevention Efforts." N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-food-insecurity-definition-impact-prevention-efforts.html>.
Current Event
According to an article "Syrian Refugees in middle East Face Growing Hunger", the Syrian refugees are currently in extreme poverty and because of that are experiencing a lack of natural needs. In Syrian the conflicts have increased so much that “Now people are living off rice, bulgar and cooking oils and they’re trying to cope with this reduced resource by skipping meals,” says Dina el Kassaby, a WFP spokesperson currently in Jordan. “Some are eating as few as one meal per day and also eating food of lower nutritional value. This shows that seriousness of the issue at hand and the need to respond to the imminent threat of hunger and poverty. The Catholic Social Teaching on this issue is to respond with helping as many people as possible in the efforts to mitigate the global issue of hunger itself and specifically help the Syrian refugees. This may be as simple as donating to the cause of different non-profit organizations that help such as the World Food Program or even helping to raise awareness in various communities.
RFI. "Syrian Refugees in Middle East Face Growing Hunger, WFP." RFI English. N.p., 8 Sept. 2015. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.english.rfi.fr/middle-east/20150908-syrian-refugees-middle-east-face-hunger-WFP>.