Earlier this week, experts from across the world met in Dublin to find new ways of tackling the crisis of global hunger.
The more than 200 participants who attended the two-day international event – co-hosted by Irish Aid, Concern and the United Nations – included smallholder farmers and fishermen, aid agencies and government officials, who discussed practical measures aimed at eliminating hunger worldwide.
Hunger remains an enormous problem, and will grow even bigger with the increase in the world’s population. According to the UN, 850 million people were suffering from hunger in 2008 – but just two years on, a further 140 million have been affected.
Minister for Overseas Development Peter Power stated ahead of the conference: “It is crucial that the eradication of hunger is at the heart of all our development efforts – both in Government, at international level and among NGOs.” But while we welcome this, we do not see how it can be achieved without serious commitment from governments across the world.
It is the same lack of commitment that has already reduced the chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goal, which aims to halve the number of people suffering from hunger by 2015.
We call on the UN to set a new deadline for this goal. In doing so, as Concern Worldwide’s chief executive Tom Arnold said: “Governments, civil society groups and the private sector must find new and better ways of working together if hunger is to be defeated.”
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