Dear Partner – At the end of May, the U.N.’s World Food Programme announced that about 14 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean could experience severe food insecurity this year due to COVID-19. The region’s economy is expected to contract by 5.3%. Pre-COVID, many countries suffered from significant unemployment and poverty rates; amid…

Dear Partner – Food banks across our network have had to adapt their models for food collection and distribution, as many of the direct lines to communities have been shut-down due to COVID-19. According to a recent survey of 47 food banks in our network, 94 percent are reporting an urgent need for food, while…

This past Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that South America is now the “new epicenter” for the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil has the highest number of cases, and both Brazil and Mexico reported record numbers of infections and deaths almost daily last week. About 39 million Brazilians work in the informal economy, which has…

Dear Partner – As lockdowns loosen, the economic devastation caused by COVID-19 remains. In many places, people are now paying significantly more for food due to supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic. This trend, compounded by the steep rise in unemployment worldwide, is making it more difficult for many families to put food on the table….

Dear Partner – In a statement to the U.N. Security Council last week, World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley shared that “due to the Coronavirus, an additional 130 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020.” Approximately 400 million daily workers in India’s informal sector have been…

Dear Partner – When I shared an update this week, we were able to provide important details on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa. Since then, the Global Network Against Food Crises sounded the alarm that this pandemic could double the number of people facing life-threatening food shortages. The executive director of the…

Dear Partner – The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that in Africa COVID-19 could surge from just thousands now to 10 million in three to six months. Over the past week, cases in Africa have doubled. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, shared, “Last week, there was a 51% increase in the number of…

Dear Partner – As COVID-19 rapidly spreads across the developing world, research from the United Nations University is suggesting that “the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to create a ‘new era’ of poverty, putting decades of progress at risk.” COVID-19 also threatens achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically End Poverty and…

Dear Partner – As lock down orders spread throughout Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia, hundreds of millions of workers in the informal economy and their families are facing hunger and homelessness, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Yesterday, the International Labor Organization estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic put at risk the livelihoods…

Dear Partners – Let me start by saying thank you. I know that the COVID-19 disease pandemic has affected you, your families, and your places of work. Yet in the past week we have received an unprecedented outpouring of support and concern for our global neighbors who this crisis disproportionately impacts. You have donated, shared…