ITALY 38 Countries Meet Anti-Hunger Targets for 2015 Rome (FAO) - Thirty-eight countries have met internationally-established targets in the fight against hunger, chalking up successes ahead of a deadline set for 2015, FAO confirmed today. “These countries are leading the way to a better future. They are proof that with strong political will, coordination and cooperation, it is possible to achieve rapid and lasting reductions in hunger,” FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said. Graziano da Silva urged all countries to keep up the momentum, aiming for the complete eradication of hunger, in keeping with the Zero Hunger Challenge launched in 2012 by United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. “Globally, hunger has declined over the past decade, but 870 million people are still undernourished, and millions of others suffer the consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, including child stunting,” the FAO chief said. “We need to keep up our efforts, until everyone can live healthy, productive lives.” Twenty countries have satisfied Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number one, to halve the proportion of hungry people. Their progress was measured between 1990-92 and 2010-2012, against benchmarks established by the international community at the UN General Assembly in 2000. An additional 18 countries were congratulated for reaching both MDG 1 and the more stringent World Food Summit (WFS) goal, having reduced by half the absolute number of undernourished people between 1990-92 and 2010-2012. The WFS goal was set in 1996, when 180 nations met at FAO headquarters to discuss ways to end hunger. The countries achieving MDG 1 alone were identified as: Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Maldives, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Togo and Uruguay. The countries achieving both MDG 1 and the WFS are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Djibouti, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Vietnam. The countries will be honored in a high-level ceremony at FAO headquarters on 16 June, during the week-long meeting of the FAO Conference, the organization’s highest governing body.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:11:07 +0000
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