“Profiting from people’s hunger is immoral and we must put an end to it now”. These are the words S&D Euro MP Arlene McCarthy, Vice Chair of the economic and monetary affairs parliamentary committee, said yesterday following the vote on the resolution on famine in the Horn of Africa. As a matter of fact yesterday the European Parliament called for changes to EU law to stop “abusive speculation” , which has contributed to current famine in the East Africa region.
According to McCarthy, who proposed the resolution’s call to crack down on harmful financial speculation on food, “it is estimated by the World Development Movement that in 2009 Goldman Sachs alone earned five billion dollars through commodities trading.”
The entire East Africa region is being affected by a severe drought, which has caused a food crisis across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya and which is threatening the lives of more than 13.3 million people. On 20 July, for the first time in nearly thirty years, the United Nations officially declared famine in two regions of southern Somalia.
“Natural catastrophes seldom come alone.” Said Socialists & Democrats spokeperson on development, Thijs Berman: “In failed states, many more victims fell as a consequence of natural disasters than elsewhere. It is the total lack of a functioning state in Somalia that deprives the population of access to basic services”. According to Berman “It is appalling that the EU still has not coherent vision on how to deal with failed and fragile states although these states should be a priority in our external action and development policy”.
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