Data detailing the magnitude of impact that Russia’s war in Ukraine is having on global food security is devastating and revealing, according to U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and a bipartisan group of 12 of her colleagues, who want accountability for the slow rollout of nearly $10 billion in humanitarian aid appropriated by Congress.
For instance, the lawmakers in a July 12 letter sent to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power, cited a report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization showing that up to 181 million people across 41 countries now face significant food shortages.
“The world has not faced a conflict-driven humanitarian and hunger crisis of this magnitude since World War II,” wrote Sen. Ernst and her colleagues. “Nations in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere have sounded the alarm that without immediate aid, their people could face acute hunger and starvation, opening the path for violence and instability in large parts of the world.”
And because Congress this year has approved nearly $10 billion in humanitarian and food aid through two separate emergency packages — one in March and another in May — the senators want to know why USAID has not yet delivered or even committed all the funding from the first package, and has elected to hold more than half of the funding from the second package until the next fiscal year, according to their letter.
“Stopping Russia’s military campaign across Ukraine is a security necessity; preventing a large-scale humanitarian crisis prevents global unrest, mass migration, widespread starvation, and preserves American safety and prosperity here at home,” they wrote. “Unless the United States translates well-meaning rhetoric and appropriated dollars into a swift humanitarian response, Russia’s crimes against humanity and weaponization of the global food supply will go unpunished.”
Sen. Ernst and her colleagues requested Power attend a briefing and provide answers on the agency’s delays in delivering the congressionally approved emergency aid.
Among the members who joined Sen. Ernst in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Rob Portman (R-OH), Tim Scott (R-SC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).