BANGKOK, Nov 28 (TNA) – An international forum in Bangkok
calls for a global push to end hunger and malnutrition that have affected over
800 million people around the world.
Over 400 international delegates have taken part in the
global event co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) in Bangkok from Wednesday to Friday.
The IFPRI-FAO conference on Accelerating the End of Hunger
and Malnutrition is aimed at catalyzing an urgent action to end hunger and all
forms of undernutrition by 2030.
One of the keynote speakers at the opening of the three-day
conference, Vice President of Zambia Inonge Mutukwa Wina, said good intentions
were not enough in life, if actions were not made.
“We shall together
win the race towards winning against hunger and malnutrition by 2030,” she told
the opening session on Wednesday.
With hunger and obesity are on the rise, the global forum
recognizes that it is a race against time to achieve the global Sustainable
Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.
Like other speakers, Wina said the goal was still achievable
and realistic.
The latest report published jointly by FAO and four other UN
agencies shows that about 820 million people are malnourished.
In his statement, FAO Director-General José Graziano da
Silva says “After decades of gains in fighting hunger, this is a serious
setback and FAO and the UN sister agencies, together with member governments
and other partners, are all very concerned.”
According to the FAO, nearly two billion people still suffer
from hidden hunger or a deficiency of important nutrients including overweight
and obese people.
In organizing the forum, the FAO and the IFPRI hoped for
experience-sharing, inputs and expertise from participants for urgent
acceleration of efforts to achieve Zero Hunger worldwide, said Shenggen Fan,
Director-general of the IFPRI.
With about 30 side events, the conference provides platforms
for delegates mostly from African and Asian countries to share knowledge,
approaches and tools that have led to success.
An exhibition is devoted for crop development and
technologies that help deliver better nutrition. (TNA)
