AT HEADQUARTERS COMMEMORATION OF WORLD FOOD DAY 2001, SECRETARY-GENERAL

URGES REMOBILIZATION OF COMMITMENTS TO MILLENNIUM HUNGER GOALS

In light of recent global events and the current economic climate, the commitment to halve the number of hungry people in the world was more important than ever, the Secretary-General said this morning at the Headquarters commemoration of World Food Day 2001.  Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, delivered the message this morning on his behalf.

This year’s theme for the Day is “Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty”.  At present, the Secretary-General continued, 1.2 billion people lived in abject poverty.  More than 800 million of them were chronically undernourished.  Hunger stunted people’s capacity for productivity and growth, preventing them from fulfilling their potential as individuals or as a society.  That had devastating consequences for economic and social development as a whole.

He recalled that five years ago, at the World Food Summit in Rome, governments had pledged to halve the number of hungry people in the world by the year 2015.  He urged Member States to mobilize renewed political and financial commitments to meeting that goal.

Murari Raj Sharma (Nepal), Vice-President of the General Assembly, spoke on behalf of the Assembly’s President, Han Seung-Soo (Republic of Korea) to say that the most effective and expeditious way to achieve the goal of halving the number of hungry people by the year 2015 was to significantly increase official development assistance to the agricultural sector.

He urged all peoples and governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, to constructively collaborate on creating a world where hunger and poverty were no longer the fate of billions of human beings. 

“We owe this to ourselves and, especially, to the children of the world”, he said.

Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), said this year’s theme had been chosen precisely because of the close connection between hunger and poverty.  Children who were hungry could not fight off disease, and undernourished workers were slower and less productive.  There were substantial economic costs for individuals, families and societies.

Adult productivity losses from the combined effect of stunting, iodine and iron deficiencies equalled 3 per cent of gross domestic product in some countries, he said.  Reducing food insecurity must be at the centre of national and international poverty programmes, because experience in several countries had shown that hunger could be reduced quickly when there was peace and political

stability.  Higher investment in agriculture and a policy environment that favoured increased farm income were crucial.

Delivering the keynote speech, former Ambassador of the United States to the FAO George McGovern presented a proposal for turning $5 billion of his country’s $40 billion anti-terror campaign towards the end of reducing hunger and ignorance in the world.  The proposal focused on a universal school lunch programme, a preschool programme that included mothers, and the allocation of $1 billion to the World Food Programme (WFP), the FAO and other agencies and programmes in a campaign to fight poverty by fighting hunger.

Noting that the terrorist attack on the United States had prompted questions about poverty and its effects, he said the first task in the fight against poverty, hunger and inequity was to reverse the decline in resources for agriculture and then to increase them.  He suggested that Member States match the $5 billion that his country would turn to the effort of fighting ignorance and poverty.  Member States should also consider setting up a $500 million trust fund for agriculture to improve conditions in the world’s rural areas.

World Food Day has been observed annually since 1981.  It commemorates the founding of FAO on 16 October 1945 as the lead agency of the United Nations system in rural development.

Background

The theme for today’s observance of World Food Day 2001 is “Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty”, underlining the interlinkage between hunger and poverty. Statements were expected to be made by the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, and the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  The keynote address would be delivered by George McGovern, former Ambassador of the United States to the FAO.  Interested delegations, Secretariat staff, representatives of United Nations funds and programmes, the specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and the media were invited to attend.

World Food Day has been annually observed since 1981 in commemoration of the founding on 16 October 1945 of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which acts as the lead agency for rural development in the United Nations system.  The FAO works to alleviate poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition and the pursuit of food security -– the access of all people at all times to the food they need for an active and healthy life.

Among the many functions and elected positions Mr. McGovern (born on 19 July 1933 in Avon, South Dakota) has filled are:  Representative in the United States Congress, Director of the United States Food for Peace Program, and United States Senator.

In 1972 Senator McGovern was the Democratic nominee for President.  In 1976 he was appointed as delegate to the thirty-first session of the General Assembly, and in 1978 as a delegate to the United Nations for the special session on disarmament.

He arrived in Rome on 31 March 1998, to assume his duties as United States Ambassador to the FAO.  He was appointed to his position by President William Clinton, who worked on his 1972 presidential campaign, as did Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Mr. McGovern has been married to the former Eleanor Stegeberg of South Dakota since 1943.  The McGoverns have five children and 10 grandchildren.

Message from President of General Assembly

MURARI RAJ SHARMA (Nepal), Vice-President of the General Assembly, speaking on behalf of the Assembly’s President, Han Seung-Soo (Republic of Korea), said hunger was the consequence of lack of access to adequate and safe food, the most basic prerequisite for human survival.  In addition to limiting the potential for sustainable development, poverty also had a severe negative impact on the natural environment.

He said it was shocking to realize that almost half of the world’s population was still living in poverty.  More than 800 million of those were chronically undernourished.  In that sense, the theme of this year’s World Food Day –- Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty -– was both timely and appropriate, underscoring the fact that the problems of hunger and poverty were interlinked and indivisible.

In their Millennium Declaration, the world’s leaders had reaffirmed that poverty was the single most important underlying cause of major social problems. In that regard, he attached great importance to the International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Monterrey, Mexico, in March next year.  The most effective and expeditious way to achieve the goal of halving the number of hungry people by the year 2015 was by significantly increasing official development assistance (ODA) to the agricultural sector, he said.

It was essential to forge partnerships with major stakeholders and promote transparent and effective governance at the national, regional and global levels, he said.  In view of the ever-increasing activities of the private sector and civil society, their knowledge, resources and potential could be of great benefit.  He urged all peoples and governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to collaborate to create a world where hunger and poverty were no longer the fate of billions of human beings.  “We owe this to ourselves and, especially, to the children of the world”, he said.

Statements

The Vice-President, Mr. SHARMA, speaking on his own behalf, said that World Food Day, commemorating the founding of the FAO, epitomized the hope the organization had brought to millions of people around the globe.  He called on the community of nations and peoples to rededicate themselves to do everything in their power to fight poverty and hunger.

The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, NITIN DESAI, conveyed a message from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said that every year World Food Day offered an occasion to renew the commitment to fight against world hunger.  This year, the theme -- Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty -- highlighted the need to address hunger both for its own sake and as a way of alleviating poverty worldwide.

He said that today, 1.2 billion people lived in abject poverty, with more than 800 million of them chronically undernourished.  Hunger was not only a consequence of poverty; it also served to perpetuate and deepen poverty itself.  Hungry people’s capacity for productivity and growth were stunted.  They could not fulfil their potential as individuals, nor as a society.  That had devastating consequences for economic and social development as a whole.

“We must end this cycle of misery”, he said.  Concerted political will and innovative policies must be combined with investment in agriculture and rural development, as well as social safety nets.  Five years ago, at the World Food Summit in Rome governments had pledged to halve the number of hungry people in the world.  He urged Member States to mobilize renewed political and financial commitment to meeting that goal.  “In the light of recent global events and the current economic climate, that commitment is more important than ever”, he said.

JACQUES DIOUF, Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), drew attention to the 800 million people of the world who were caught in a vicious cycle of undernourishment, low productivity, poor health and more poverty.  “Undernourishment not only debilitates people, it weakens nations”, he said.  Children who were hungry could not fight off disease, and undernourished workers were slower and less productive.  That was why the task of reducing food insecurity must be at the centre of national and international poverty programmes.  The theme of this year's World Food Day observance -- Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty -- had been chosen precisely because of the intricate connection between hunger and poverty.

Five years ago, at the World Food Summit in Rome, world leaders had pledged to halve the number of hungry people by the year 2015, he continued.  That commitment had meant that 20 million people a year were to be taken out of the undernourished ranks.  Since then, however, only 6 million people per year were being weaned off the hunger list, meaning it would take 50 years rather than 20 to reach the target set in 1996.  The target could still be met if world policymakers took stock of the situation to step up the pace.  Leaders would get an  opportunity to address the need at the FAO Conference in November, the forum for the “World Food Summit, five years later”.

Some dimensions of hunger were alarming, he said.  Hunger carried substantial economic costs for individuals, families and whole societies.  For example, adult productivity losses from the combined effect of stunting, iodine and iron deficiencies equalled 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in some countries.  At the same time, experience in several countries had shown that hunger could be reduced quickly when there was peace and political stability.  The necessary conditions for achieving that goal included increased investment in agriculture, particularly in the basic infrastructural elements of water control and construction of rural roads and storage facilities.  A policy environment favouring increased farm income was also essential, including the providing of social safety nets for the poor.

He said the responsibility for ensuring everyone’s ability to exercise the basic right to adequate food rested with individuals, families, communities and governments, in that order.  But the international community had an important supporting role.  That was to help low-income food-deficit countries, and other vulnerable countries, to meet the costs of the supplementary investment they could not afford.  For that reason, the G-8 Genoa Summit in July had determined that support of agriculture was a key element of ODA.

GEORGE McGOVERN, former United States Ambassador to the FAO, alluded to the painful gap in the host city’s environment.  There had been gain from the tragedy, however, he said.  One was that the world had come together as never before, just as the people of New York and of the host country had.  Further, the world had opened its heart and arms to the United States, which was very grateful for that support.  Finally, the tragedy had prompted a new level of questions to understand what had caused the young men to commit the deed.

The tragedy had prompted another look at the world, he continued.  It had forced a consideration of how normal young people could turn into killers.  While no conditions justified the mass killing of people, the “stubborn realities of global poverty” stood out to suggest the possibility that those young men had become vulnerable as a result of growing up with a sense of powerlessness about their plight.  Modern communication had made sure they knew about the conditions of the privileged.  It was possible that the cruel and the fanatical had appeared as heroes to them, that they had been “rebelling against their own powerlessness” through the action in order to feel they were not powerless as they watched the mighty towers crumble.  Certainly they would be captured, but capturing the killers was only a first step in doing a better job to heal the world’s wounds and its trouble spots. 

He said that on seeing New York, he had realized how much he loved his country and wanted it to be proud and strong.  But he had also realized he wished such pride for every country.  Even more, he was aware that the United Nations had started as a place for fulfilling humanity’s dreams after two devastating wars.  Every person who loved peace and prosperity must enlist in the Organization’s work.

It would take a concrete step to make the world a healthier and happier place that was more secure against terror, he said.  In wake of the terror attack, United States President Bush had asked Congress for $20 billion for the anti-terror effort.  Congress had responded by giving $40 billion.  With the support of fellow national statesman Bob Dole, he would suggest that at least $5 billion of that sum be used over the next five years to reduce hunger and ignorance in the world.

That could be done in three ways, he continued.  First, a good, nutritious school lunch would be provided for every school child in the world.  The “universal school lunch programme” had been proposed by United States President Clinton and now awaited Senate approval after approval by the House last week.  Pilot programmes had already started in 39 countries.  It had begun to make a difference in places where millions of children had trudged to school and then tried to concentrate on studies.  It would continue and the effect would spread, including jumps in school enrollment with good lunches, improvements in sports, and later marriage for girls to reduce birthrate without recourse to abortions.

In addition, he said, a preschool lunch programme would be set up that included mothers.  Such a programme was called the WIC programme in the United States, an acronym for “women, infants and children”.

Finally, he said, the plan he and Bob Dole would present to Congress stipulated that half a billion dollars should be allocated to the World Food Programme (WFP) and other players dealing with the issues of fighting poverty and ignorance.  Another half would be given to the FAO, with an appropriate percentage dedicated to “fighting poverty by fighting hunger”.  The first task in that fight

was to reverse the decline in resources for agriculture and then to increase them.  Member States should consider setting up a $500 million trust fund for agriculture because it was imperative to improve conditions in the world’s rural areas.

Describing a trip to Senegal last year where Vietnamese workers had been involved in programmes to improve the quality of life in that country, he said there should be several thousand of those projects around the world.  If the

$5 billion being directed towards that end by the United States were matched by other States, there would be $10 billion not only to feed kids in school but to provide them with safe drinking water.

United States President Bush had described himself as a compassionate conservative, he concluded.  He had demonstrated that virtue by making sure food was dropped on Afghanistan before bombs were.  That was the best way to make a dent in the poverty that was the recruiting ground for terrorists.  Out of that shadow of evil, he said, good should emerge in the form of hope for all nations that differences could be resolved in a calm and orderly way.  Above all, the good that emerged should be that justice and prosperity spread to the poor and dispossessed of the world, so that all could choose a future of freedom and not the savagery of the desperate.

Mr. DIOUF, Director-General of the FAO, in his closing remarks, thanked

Mr. McGovern, who, he said, had always been a source of inspiration by his words and actions.  He was convinced that hope would prevail over despair, that there would be peace for everybody and that, in the world the United Nations was trying to build, even the poorest of the poor would see that there was hope for a better future.  His organization would struggle to convince the world that the poor should be given a chance, and be given food in an emergency situation.  It was also important to allow poor people to produce their own food, thus not only giving them food security, but also giving them their dignity.

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