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by Nomadic Chris, 16 October 2009
Today, October 16th, is "WFD" WORLD FOOD DAY! And, it's no joking matter.
An estimated 1.02 billion people are starving in the world today, that means 1/6 of the world’s population are hungry on a daily basis.
Do these tragic facts ever receive the attention they deserve?
What can YOU do to help?
Read on, and check out the WFD events below.
Every October 16th, the world reflects on the issues of poverty, food, hunger and methods to overcome these issues. Global events will bring greater attention to the tragic fact that a majority of the world still does not have enough food to survive. Each year, a new WFD theme is chosen. 2009 is “Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis”.
October 16th was declared to be World Food Day back in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It marks the date of the founding of FAO in 1945.
According to FAO, the main objectives of WFD include:
* Encourage attention to agricultural food production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end;
* Encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries;
* Encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions;
* Heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world;
* Promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and
* Strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.
The global food situation is now getting ever more serious. According to FAO, food production will have to increase over 70% over the next 40 years to keep up with the world population’s growth levels; the prospect of 370 million people facing famine is now a distinct possibility. One of the great challenges is how the world will feed itself over the next few decades. In these circumstances, the first to suffer tend to be children.
According to Save the Children:
Currently more than a billion people live with chronic hunger. At least 400 million of them are children. A child dies every six seconds from hunger-related causes.
 Poor families in developing countries typically spend 50 to 70 percent of their income on food. Meanwhile, U.S. families spend only 5 to 10 percent of their budget on food. When young children are malnourished, their development physically and intellectually may be permanently impaired so hindering their opportunities in the future.
Change needs to happen to give every child the opportunity to reach their full potential.
There are World Food events occurring simultaneously all around the world. In Hong Kong, the refugee agency UNHCR HK will be holding a special event featuring music, songs and speeches. This will run from 11.45am to 2pm at Telford Plaza, Kowloon Bay Hong Kong. (More details below).
For more on events in your country, please click onto the official FAO website below!
Not everyone is lucky enough to have three meals a day. But those privileged enough can help in their own little way not just on October 16th but every day!
MORE ABOUT "HUNGER" and a way for YOU to donate food with JUST the push of a button:
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