The United Nations and the Fight Against Hunger
As a young child, I saw my country destroyed by war. The United Nations came to our rescue. Fighting hunger. Feeding people. Helping us help ourselves. Now I travel to some of the world’s toughest places. War zones, refugee camps, disaster areas. I want the people there to have what everyone deserves – dignity and a better life. I know from my own life. The World Food Programme provides more than food. It nourishes hope. It nourishes the future. Together we can solve hunger."
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, United Nations
Nearly a billion of the world’s poor and vulnerable people – 1 in 7 people – are in danger because they cannot be sure of getting the food that children and adults need for healthy and productive lives. Many of them go to bed and wake up hungry.
As we saw during the dramatic food price spikes in 2008, the cost of food is now so volatile as to threaten people’s food and nutrition security.
Hunger creates humanitarian, human rights, socio-economic, environmental, developmental, and political and security related challenges.
The number one UN Millennium Development Goal is to cut extreme poverty and hunger in half.
To meet immediate needs of vulnerable people, the UN High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis identified key areas to focus on:
- Strengthen emergency food assistance, nutrition interventions and safety nets and make them more accessible
- Boost smallholder farmer food production- Adjust trade and tax policies to be adjusted
- Manage macroeconomic implications
There are three UN agencies dedicated to this fight against hunger:
World Food Programme () – delivering food assistance
Food and Agriculture Organization () – improving agricultural productivity
International Fund for Agricultural Development () – eradicating rural poverty in developing countries
? 2012 United Nations