ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT STRESSES NEED TO EMPOWER WOMEN FARMERS AS WAY TO WIN WAR AGAINST HUNGER

Press Release
GA/SM/69
SAG/14

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT STRESSES NEED TO EMPOWER WOMEN FARMERS AS WAY TO WIN WAR AGAINST HUNGER

Following is the statement of the President of the General Assembly, Didier Opertti (Uruguay), at the observance of World Food Day, held at Headquarters today:

I should like to open this eighteenth observance of World Food Day, which marks the anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It is a great honour for me since my country, Uruguay, was one of the 44 founding member States of the FAO. In fact, I vividly remember that in 1995, my country enthusiastically participated in the fiftieth anniversary observance activities of FAO in Quebec City, Canada, and in Montevideo, where special activities were organized for this occasion.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted on 5 December 1980 resolution 35/70, in which it recognized that food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity. The same resolution welcomed the observance of World Food Day annually and urged Governments as well as national, regional and international organizations to contribute to the effective commemoration of World Food Day to the greatest possible extent. I understand that over the last 18 years, some 150 countries have observed each year World Food Day, and many do so as an occasion to reflect annually on the global problem of food scarcity, which afflicts more than 800 million men, women and children who are chronically undernourished and suffer the pangs of hunger and its consequences for health and well-being.

In today's World Food Day observance, we are provided with an opportunity to examine our collective conscience as a world community and

admit that the death of 30,000 people from hunger and malnutrition each day is morally and socially unacceptable.

The World Food Summit convened by FAO in Rome in 1996 was a milestone in addressing the issues of hunger and malnutrition. Heads of State and Governments of 186 countries adopted the World Food Summit Declaration and Plan of Action, which provides us with a strategic framework and direction in the achievement of universal food security as part of a campaign to achieve food for all. To achieve this objective in 30 years, we have to double the real capacity and production of basic foodstuffs. The political will has been mobilized and the enabling guidelines to achieve universal food security are in place to achieve universal food security. What is needed therefore, is for the various sectors of society: Governments, parliamentarians, non- governmental organizations, the media, scientists, educators, the private sector, women and youth organizations and all others to coordinate their efforts to achieve a greater synergy to work collectively towards their household and national food security. During these times, in particular, when the financial and trade markets are so volatile and vulnerable, producing negative social effects, ensuring food security for the most vulnerable in our societies becomes an urgent imperative and a priority.

This year's World Food Day theme is "Women Feed the World". This theme is truly most appropriate as women, particularly in the developing countries, produce half of the food grown today. Women provide a substantial contribution through their multiple and varied roles in agriculture, such as, for example, in growing, processing and selling food crops, raising livestock, fishing in lakes and rivers, and harvesting forest resources, apart from their roles in preparing food and nurturing the family.

During my opening statement at this fifty-third session of the General Assembly some six weeks ago, I noted several special challenges facing the world today such as disruption in the financial markets, resurgence of terrorism, and other individual/institutional conflicts, and at that time I emphasized the need for "creating a favourable climate for the consideration of those issues and promoting an animus societatis among all Member States".

Today, we are confronted with an even more fundamental challenge and the need for an even greater impetus to act strategically and decisively to win this war on hunger and malnutrition that blights people's lives. Clearly, we need to harness the full potential of all of our human resources, men and women, on this planet to win the war against hunger. This means that we have to stop treating women as second-class citizens and farmers. We need to create a momentum to achieve convergence in the political and social spheres to provide an enabling framework for the urgent focus on food security and empower both women and men farmers, equally, to help us address this problem.

- 3 - Press Release GA/SM/69 OBV/69 SAG/14 20 October 1998

I wish to take this opportunity to recall a true milestone in the struggle for equality between men and women, namely the adoption by the General Assembly in 1979 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women -- on this day, when we focus on the remarkable contributions of women in agriculture, I am proud to note that this landmark treaty adopted nearly 20 years ago contains very specific provisions, under article 14, calling for the elimination of discriminatory rules and practices facing women in agriculture. Today, I call upon all States signatories of this Convention to judiciously implement the spirit and the letter of this treaty and in particular article 14, and thereby empower women farmers to achieve their full potential to help us all win the war against hunger.

It is my hope that this year's World Food Day observance should be remembered as the catalyst for advancing some of the key issues related to women farmers and their role in global food security, without failing to mention the positive influence which the new food production and conservation techniques can have on the solution of this problem.

To conclude, I should like to express my sincere appreciation to the FAO Director-General, Jacques Diouf, in reminding us once again that our common cause should be to feed all of humanity. Clearly this issue will dominate the development agenda into the new millennium and with FAO's leadership and the cooperation of the peoples and Governments of the United Nations, the World Food Summit objective of at least halving the number of hungry people in the world by the year 2015 will have been met as our legacy to humanity.

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