WFP News Release
16 October 2015
ON WORLD FOOD DAY, WFP URGES PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD TO HELP ACHIEVE #ZEROHUNGER
Freetown – Speaking today at World Food Day events in Italy, Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), appealed to the entire global community to take action and help to ensure that the world achieves #ZeroHunger.
“Just imagine the night in 2030 when no child, woman or man goes to bed hungry,” Cousin said at celebrations sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. “Starting now, each of us must stand up, get involved and do our part to make the changes so we reach Zero Hunger by 2030.”
“Working together, we can all press for the changes that the world needs, including ending extreme poverty, supporting smallholder farmers and ensuring access to nutritious food all year round for the most vulnerable people by investing in social protection programmes,” Cousin said.
She invited everyone to mark World Food Day by posting #ZeroHunger on social media in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Zero Hunger Challenge, which represents the goal we all share and the world we want. WFP encourages people to join a new community Facebook page and switch their profile page to highlight a striking white circle representing the target of Zero Hunger.
“Individuals are at the heart of achieving the 17 Global Goals – including Goal 2, Zero Hunger – adopted in New York last month precisely because people were at the centre of the process that defined them. We must all work together to reach them by 2030,” Cousin said.
At the same time, WFP launched a new social media campaign putting people at the centre of achieving zero hunger by demonstrating how individual lives can be transformed. The “One Future, #ZeroHunger” campaign, wfp.org/ZeroHunger also features a video urging the world to unite around Global Goal 2.
This call to action builds on the momentum from the adoption of the 17 Global Goals with a deadline of 2030. The Goals are inter-connected and hunger and malnutrition cannot be eliminated in isolation from progress on the others. Global Goal 2 reads: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.”
“The 7 billion people in the world will share the future. When I see a little girl in a village in South Sudan, I believe that our future is in her hands,” said Cousin. “She needs to eat regular nutritious meals, receive an education and then she can join all of us to build the future of a world without hunger. So each one of us is doing our part for a more prosperous and peaceful world.”
The web site gives examples of how everyone can get involved in achieving zero hunger through, for instance, sharing #ZeroHunger and joining groups of online supporters where people can advocate for reaching zero hunger and spread the message across communities.
According to The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 report, 795 million people suffer from hunger today, down 167 million from a decade ago. To speed up progress and save countless lives and build stronger futures by 2030, it would take an annual investment of US$265 billion – about 0.3 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product. By investing in ending global hunger, we would see a significant rise in global prosperity.
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The video can be viewed at: wfp.org/ZeroHunger
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.
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For more information please contact (email address: [email protected]):
Jane Howard, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 65132321, Mob. +39 346 7600521
Vichi De Marchi WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 65132058, Mob. +39 348 0517605
Tyler Guthrie, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 6513 3873, Mob. +39 348 024 4246
Bettina Luescher, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41 22 917 8564, Mob. + 41-79-842-8057
Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel. +44 20 72409001, Mob. +44 7968 008474
Gerald Bourke, WFP/New York, Tel. +1-646-5566909, Mob. +1-
