Amnesty International’s 2022 annual report, released on Monday, warned that insecurity, hunger and human‑rights abuses are undermining countries across Africa. Titled “Amnesty International Report 2022/23: The State of the World’s Human Rights,” the document details the impact of conflicts throughout Sub‑Saharan Africa and notes that the rights to food, health and an adequate standard of living are being eroded continent‑wide.
Food insecurity has worsened due to conflict and drought in several African nations, leaving many people facing acute hunger. The report cites Angola, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan as especially affected. In Angola, food insecurity in the provinces of Cunene, Huíla and Namibe was among the worst in the world; in some areas, adults and children resorted to eating grass stalks to survive.
Journalists, human‑rights defenders and political opposition figures are confronting repression in many African states. The report highlights “double standards and inadequate responses to human‑rights abuses” as drivers of impunity and instability in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal and Zimbabwe. Scores of protesters were reported killed, with excessive force by security forces attributed to the deaths in Nigeria, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan.
Amnesty International also noted that recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has been delayed by ongoing conflicts, economic shocks stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and extreme weather linked to climate change. The Russian invasion disrupted wheat supplies that many African countries rely on, while rising fuel costs—another consequence of the war—triggered sharp spikes in food prices, hitting the most marginalized groups hardest.
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