UN makes largest single appeal amid warnings of unprecedented hunger due to pandemic

The United Nations is warning that 265 million people could be pushed to the point of starvation by the end of 2020 with the first increase in global poverty since 1990 unless urgent action is taken. Humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock made the single largest appeal in U.N. history Thursday, seeking $10.3 billion to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic and its deadly second-order effects, especially the global recession and the diversion of health resources. The U.N. launched its Global Humanitarian Response Plan in March, but has fallen short of its funding goals since then, generating $1.7 billion so far.