Addressing 'hunger' summit: President Hosni Mubarak delivering a speech during the opening of the World Summit for Food Security organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome yesterday. The summit runs until tomorrow with the participation of more than 60 heads of state and government. Mubarak is also set to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo today.
Rome - President Hosni Mubarak yesterday urged rich nations to do more to eradicate hunger in the developing and poor nations, saying that it is high time to move from the phase of dialogue over food security to adopt strict measures to reduce food shortage.Mubarak was speaking at a three-day UN food summit in Rome which is being attended by some 60 heads of state and government."We are taking part in this summit to press ahead with keeping the issue of food security on the international agenda. Food security needs a new mechanism from all world countries
Mubarak, whose country chairs the current session of the Non-Aligned Movement, said. He added that the world should fight those who monopolise food."The recent food situation has many risks that threaten the human life," the Egyptian leader said, according to the official Middle East News Agency (MENA).Earlier in the day UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the summit with a stark reminder of the plight affecting the world's hungry, and a warning that the situation will worsen unless harmful climate change is curbed. "This day, more than 17,000 children will die of hunger. One every five seconds. Six million children a year," Ban told the gathering hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at its Rome headquarters. Ban also referred to a symbolic, personal fast he made Sunday ahead of the summit in an effort to draw attention to global hunger. "It was not easy. But, for too many people, going without food is a daily reality," he said. The FAO says some 44 billion dollars - or 17 per cent of official development aid - needs to be directed annually towards agriculture and food production, if hunger is to be eradicated in developing countries. In 2009 agriculture is expected to receive only 5 per cent of development aid, according to FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf who also addressed summit delegates. The FAO hopes the summit will also secure urgent aid to some 31 poor countries particularly stricken by the global economic crisis and in a context where food prices remain high despite good world cereal production this year. Related story Page 3
