The World Today
MADRID, 22 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has defended the validity of its criteria for officially declaring famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas this Friday.
On social media, the Israeli government has denounced the IPC for "lowering the bar" by declaring famine in the Palestinian enclave, stating that malnourished children must represent more than 30 percent of the population. However, the IPC has responded by saying that the Israeli authorities are using incorrect parameters.
The IPC points out that 30 percent is a threshold used based on the ratio of weight to height. Since this data is not currently available in Gaza, the organization has decided to use another system: measuring the circumference of the upper arm.
If more than 15 percent of children in a surveyed area have a diameter below the starvation threshold, the criterion is met, the organization's technical manual states.
In a statement reported by the BBC, the IPC indicates that the use of this criterion in no way represents a "lowering of the bar" but, in fact, "demonstrates the continued application of its standards."
