Food crisis - the "right" solution?

Mary Robinson is to address a seminar marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on how and why the world needs to tackle a growing global phenomenon.

• Is it right that over 850 million people go to bed hungry every night?
• Is it right that the world’s richest 20% consume 16 times more food than the world’s poorest 20%?
• Is it right that millions of people in the Horn of Africa are one step away from famine?
• Is it right that the world stands by and wrings its hands?
  
  

We are on the brink of a food crisis that could be devastating for the world’s poorest people. As food prices around the world continue to rise, women, subsistence farmers and slum-dwellers throughout the developing world are bearing the brunt. If it isn’t right, just who is responsible for tackling this crisis?

Sixty years ago, world leaders agreed that access to food is not a luxury. It’s a necessity and a right. A human right. Just eight years ago they promised to reduce the number of undernourished people to half their present level by 2015.

This means that governments from rich and poor nations, aid agencies, academics and the corporate sector have an obligation to come up with short-term responses to the current crisis and with radical, creative long-term solutions that will eradicate global hunger. So far, we have not seen enough movement on this issue and the food crisis is growing.

Join former President Mary Robinson at a seminar hosted by ActionAid Ireland and Concern Worldwide to examine some of the key issues surrounding the current food crisis. These issues include the impact on women, why land rights are important and why social protection mechanisms need to be extended in developing countries.

For further information:
Laura O'Mahony, Head of Communications, Concern Worldwide 01 417 7729 / 7737
Simon Molloy, Head of Fundraising & Communications, ActionAid Ireland  01 814 7053 / 878 7911

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