War Brings Millions of People in Developing Countries into Poverty: Jokowi

TheIndonesia.co - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that millions of people in developing countries are facing the threat of starvation and are at risk of falling into poverty due to the food crisis arising from the war. Jokowi conveyed this statement at the 2nd session of the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany, on Monday, June 27, 2022, at local time.

"The president, among others, conveyed that people in developing countries are threatened with hunger and are falling into the ravine of extreme poverty,” Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated while quoting him in a virtual press conference on Tuesday.

Marsudi said President Jokowi, in his statement, noted that in 2022, some 323 million people faced severe food vulnerability, based on data from the UN World Food Programme.

In fact, food is the most basic human rights problem, the president remarked while adding that women and poor families are the most affected by food shortages.

Hence, the president called on the G7 and G20 countries to work together in overcoming the food crisis. "At the end of his remarks at the 2nd session, the president emphasized that the G7 and G20 (countries) have a huge responsibility to overcome this food crisis from now on," Marsudi affirmed.

Furthermore, according to Jokowi, the world does not have a long time to solve the disruption of food supply chains caused by the scarcity and rising prices of food commodities and fertilizers.

In several bilateral meetings, Jokowi was clear about raising the voices of developing countries, as the most affected by the food crisis due to the war in Ukraine. "If the world does not unite to solve the problem, then the most impacted ones will be hundreds of millions or even billions of citizens of developing countries," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said while quoting President Jokowi.

In addition to attending two sessions of the G7 Summit as a partner country, Jokowi will attend nine bilateral meetings with country leaders of India, France, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, and IMF Managing Director.