Concern Worldwide delivers Nothing Kills Like Hunger petition to the UN

Press release21 October 2022

Concern Worldwide Haiti Programme Director, Victoria Jean-Louis, presents a photographic art piece which incorporates over 10,000 signatures for Concern’s Nothing Kills Like Hunger campaign to the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, Fergal Mythen, in New York. Photo: Kieran McConville.

Concern Worldwide last night delivered a petition to the United Nations, calling on global leaders to tackle conflict-driven hunger.

The petition was signed by more than 10, 000 people from Ireland and across the world, as part of Concern’s Nothing Kills Like Hunger campaign. The Irish humanitarian organisation’s campaign was launched in September 2021 to appeal to global leaders to take the urgent action needed to save lives as levels of conflict-driven hunger around the world continue to rise.

Last night, at an event in New York, Concern Worldwide delivered the signatures to the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, Fergal Mythen.

Singer Songwriter, Declan O’Rourke, joined Concern Worldwide CEO, Dominic MacSorley, and Concern Worldwide Haiti Programme Director, Victoria Jean-Louis at the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations at a forum aimed at elevating the issue of conflict-driven hunger.

Youth Delegates

Missing from a panel discussion at the event were two youth peace delegates from Haiti who were unable to travel due to increased instability on the island nation.

“Life, for us young people living in the ghettos, is not easy at all. The conflict situation in our areas makes people vulnerable every day… It has plunged us into turmoil, into more unemployment, into poverty and into psychological problems,’ they said, in a previously prepared statement.

A core element of the Nothing Kills Like Hunger campaign involved conversations with young people who are agents for peace in their communities. Those testimonies from Haiti, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are documented in a short film that premiered at the event.

“Most of the time, conflict is the root cause of hunger in our community...I am a farmer and when conflict breaks out we all flee and I have to leave my field and crops behind. Wherever we end up, we are newcomers, we have no fields, no reserves. This always makes us vulnerable,” said one participant, aged 20, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

10,000 Signatures

Over 10,000 signatories were received for the campaign’s open letter, which asks global leaders to:

Guarantee humanitarian assistance for the 50 million people who are currently at risk of famine;
Break the cycle between conflict and hunger for good to prevent future famines;
Investigate, condemn and take action against those who use starvation as a weapon of war.

“In 2021, 41 million people were on the brink of famine and the primary cause was conflict. A year later, that number has reached 50 million people- we are now facing a rapidly mounting global catastrophe. The campaign to address this must go on until global leaders act to address one of the major causes of hunger in the world” Mr. MacSorley said.

For media queries contact Eamon Timmins Media Relations Manager, Concern Worldwide at Eamon.timmins@concern.net or 087 9880524