Note to Correspondents

Food and Agriculture Organization Kicks Off Exhibit on Anti-Hunger Campaign

 

at United Nations Headquarters, 28 July

 

As natural disasters, accidents and war generate a never-ending stream of crisis, public attention shifts from one to the next.  Meanwhile hunger, a quiet crisis, is rarely in the news.  Yet current calculations show that close to 1 billion people worldwide continue to go to bed hungry each night.

If the world continues at the current pace of hunger reduction, the Millennium Development Goal of halving the percentage of hungry people by 2015 will not be met.

A new Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) exhibit opening this week offers visitors to the United Nations a platform to express their indignation at the unacceptable level of world hunger by signing a petition calling on national and international leaders to move hunger to the top of the political agenda.  The petition will be presented to world leaders during an official ceremony at the United Nations this fall.

The exhibit features promotional videos from campaign supporters, including British actor Jeremy Irons and professional football players from across Europe.  Campaign supporters are encouraged to spread the petition through social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The exhibit will open in the Visitors Lobby on Wednesday, 28 July at 1:30 p.m.  Sharon Lee Cowan, Manager of the “1billionhungryproject” will say a few words.  The entire United Nations community is invited to attend the event.

For media inquiries, contact Teresa Buerkle, FAO Media Relations Officer, tel.: +1 202 653 0011, e-mail: teresamarie.buerkle@fao.org; or call the FAO Liaison Office at tel.: +1 212 963 6036.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, contact Jan Arnesen, tel.: +1 212 963 8531, e-mail: arnesen@un.org; or Liza Wichmann, tel.: +1 212 963 0089; e-mail: wichmann@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record