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Acute hunger could reach 8 million children in six African countries as El Niño looms
Confirmed
In Short: Despite the progress in addressing global hunger, which declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, some African countries are still facing significant challenges.
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday endorsed a new world map that represents Africa more accurately in its larger size, a culmination of a recent campaign led by African countries and advocacy groups.
According to the resolution, which was sponsored by Togo and backed by members of the African Union, the new map aims to provide a more accurate representation of continental landmasses on the globe.
The resolution was supported by 164 countries, while the United States voted against it and six other states abstained.
The adoption of the new map was hailed by several countries, with some experts arguing that outside of navigation applications, there is no practical reason to use the traditional Mercator projection.
Around 309 million people in Africa experienced hunger last year, one in five Africans, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, jointly prepared by five U.N. agencies.
The U.S. has signed similar agreements with about 30 countries since late last year, many of them in Africa, signaling a shift in foreign aid policies.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed claims of white persecution and argued that those leaving the country are responding to political and social disagreements over how South Africa should address the legacy of apartheid.
The United States has imposed visa restrictions on South African officials and other individuals it accuses of supporting policies that discriminate against the country’s white minority, opening another front in an increasingly strained relationship between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the Holy Father's representative in Ghana challenged young Catholics from across West Africa to reject fear, build friendships rooted in faith, and embrace their responsibility as the 'today of God' in the Church and their countries.
The gathering, organized by the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa, has brought together youth from the 16 countries in the West African region under the theme 'Take Courage, Catholic Youth, as Actors and Agents of Peace and Hope in West Africa.
What this adds
The shift in U.S. foreign aid policies is expected to affect several African countries, with Namibia being the latest to feel the effects.
The impact of the West African Youth Day gathering is expected to be measured long after the participants have returned to their respective countries.
What's confirmed
- Only the U.S. voted against it while six other countries — Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine — abstained.
What's still developing
- ROME, July 21 - Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, with improvements recorded across every continent, although mounting risks from climate shocks and trade disruption could threaten further progress, a United Nations report said.
- Some African countries also began to reverse years of deterioration, though the continent had the world's largest undernourished population in 2025, with 309 million people affected, one in five Africans.
- Global hunger is projected to keep falling by 2030, according to the U.N. experts.
- "The big difference to previous years is that this year the rate of hunger has declined in all continents, including Africa, although very, very slightly," Máximo Torero, chief economist at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told Reuters in an interview.
- Torero said the war in Gaza had not materially altered the global hunger figures because the report tracks chronic, long-term undernourishment rather than acute food insecurity caused by conflicts or disasters.
- Despite progress against hunger, child malnutrition remains stubbornly high and anaemia among women is worsening, the report said, highlighting that adult obesity has also risen steadily.
- The U.S. will provide Namibia with $45 million for its HIV response in the 2027 fiscal year but the country will then start funding its own HIV programs, with the U.S. only providing "technical cooperation," both countries said in statement.
- WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — The United States will start phasing out its financial support for Namibia's HIV response programs, the latest among southern African countries to feel the effects of the withdrawal of foreign aid by the U.S.
- Authorities are required to attempt to reach agreement with affected owners, while disputes can be challenged through the courts.
- The US Embassy in Pretoria said Washington had reached the conclusion that its attempts at dialogue with South Africa had not produced the desired response.
- South African authorities have rejected the allegations, particularly claims that white South Africans are being systematically persecuted or face a campaign of racial violence.
- “The resolution adopted today reaffirms African reality,” he added.