NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORLD FOOD DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS ON 20 OCTOBER

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORLD FOOD DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS ON 20 OCTOBER

The United Nations will observe World Food Day at a special event from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in conference room 2 on Tuesday, 20 October 1998. Speakers will include the President of the General Assembly, Didier Opertti; Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette, who will deliver the keynote address on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan; first Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, Francesco Paolo Fulci; and the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Jacques Diouf.

In his message for World Food Day (16 October) this year, Secretary- General Kofi Annan stated: "Every year, World Food Day reminds us of a tragic reality -- that the war against hunger is still being fought. In this fiftieth anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to food for all, the most fundamental of human rights, still eludes millions of people. More than 800 million people suffer from chronic hunger or malnutrition, 200 million of them children. . . What is needed now is the collective political will".

Referring to this year's theme for World Food Day, "Women feed the world", FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said in Rome on 16 October, "I am personally convinced that the goal of food security for all cannot be reached unless the voice of the silent majority of humanity is heard. The enormous contribution made by women in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and thereby in achieving household and national food security, must be recognized and valued".

In 1980, the General Assembly called for the observance of World Food Day for the first time on 16 October 1981 and annually thereafter to heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world and to encourage attention to food production.

For further information, contact Bill Hass, Development and Human Rights Section, Department of Public Information at 963-0353.

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