New York - With 35,000 people dying of hunger every day and governments failing to meet their millennium commitment to halve hunger by 2015, the international development agency, ActionAid's HungerFREE campaign is calling for food and hunger to play a central role "on the table" of the 62nd United Nations General Assembly Meetings.
"The UN is failing on its commitment to the world's poor. 11 years ago, governments committed to halving hunger by 2015 at the World Food Summit. At that time, there were 800 million hungry people across the globe. Today, 854 million are hungry. That's 17% of the world's population."
Said Thomas Johnny, Policy Research Manager at ActionAid Sierra Leone, "Hunger results from a lack of political will and bad policies. If the UN doesn't take action, some 35,000 people a day, if not more, will continue to die," added Mr. Johnny.
"The right to food is a human right. This right must no longer be ignored." said Colm O Cuanachain, ActionAid's International Campaign Director. "We must challenge the UN member states to fulfil their millennium commitments and enact a strong resolution on food and hunger to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals are not just political rhetoric."
Campaigners from across the globe will protest outside the United Nations at Ralph Bunche Plaza daily from 1:15-3:00PM, September 18th - 21st. Campaigners will also present case studies during meetings scheduled with UN Missions. Celebrities, including actors from Hollywood, Bollywood, and Nollywood (Nigerian cinema), will take part in a special action September 25th.
ActionAid is demanding that governments follow recent examples of countries such as Brazil, Guatemala, South Africa, Venezuela, and Bolivia, where positive legal, policy and administrative steps have been taken towards the implementation of the right to food at the national level.
Additionally, ActionAid's HungerFREE campaign, which spans more than 30 countries, calls on governments to deliver on their Millennium Development Goal commitment to halve hunger by 2015, by ensuring that they respect, protect and fulfil the right to food; strengthen corporate regulations; expose companies when they exploit poor people; and protect poor women's access to land.
ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
