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FROM THE FIELD

16 Oct 2003 20:58:00 GMT

World Food Day 2003: Alliance against Hunger

Bonnie Gillespie

American Red Cross - USA
Website: http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072,0_1_1782,00.html
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 — Every eight seconds a child somewhere in the world dies of hunger related causes. Almost one billion people wake up each morning, uncertain of where their next meal will come from. With global resources available to feed 12 billion people, concerned organizations and individuals from around the world are uniting to form an International Alliance against Hunger, the commitment and theme of World Food Day 2003.

Since 1999, the Red Cross has helped provide food for more than 4.3 million people in 19 different countries.

On October 16th, the American Red Cross will join the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other humanitarian organizations to address the struggle of millions suffering from chronic malnourishment.

“World Food Day raises awareness about the plight of people around the world who live in a constant state of hunger,” said Mark Smith, Manager of Global Food Programs for the American Red Cross. “So few of us really have any idea of what hunger really is. We think of hunger as being on a diet or missing a meal, not in the reality of simply having no food at all. “

But the American Red Cross is working to restore hope to the world’s hungry. Since 1999, the Red Cross has helped feed more than 4.3 million people in 19 different countries, including Ethiopia, Malawi, Colombia, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan and many more.

“The Red Cross distributes about 50,000 pounds of food a day – that’s similar to an entire grocery store full of food each day given to people who wouldn’t eat otherwise,” said Smith. “These programs are not just about giving people a meal, it’s about making their lives better.”

Since food assistance programs have been recognized as one of the most effective deterrents against absolute poverty, operations aim to make communities “food secure” so they can devote time, attention and work to escaping the poverty trap.

“We don’t just want to give people a meal, we want to help them in other ways, like stimulating their local economies,” said Smith.

With this in mind, the American Red Cross designs its food programs in a holistic manner, integrating the delivery of food with education and training in nutrition, health and water and sanitation interventions.

The Red Cross sponsors food distribution programs like this one in Ethiopia in communities throughout the world..

The Red Cross also utilizes a variety of food programs that suit regional, cultural and socio-economic differences because the needs and situations of people worldwide vary.

Soup kitchens are often set up in areas devastated by conflict where massive dislocation occurs, while food supplements are targeted for specific groups like pregnant women and malnourished children. Food-for-Work projects and agricultural recovery initiatives directly involve food program beneficiaries in revitalizing and improving their communities.

With nearly $10 million in monetary and in-kind donations just in recent months, the Red Cross is continuing to partner with organizations like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Food Program in innovative endeavors to reach the world’s hungry.

In Vietnam, the Red Cross recently launched an effort to provide 50,000 daily rations to primary school children, while also giving them a “take home” ration for younger siblings not of school age and pregnant mothers. The program will provide school and community-based health, nutrition and sanitation education. This unique program, though, is only one of many which make the Red Cross an integral part of the “Alliance against Hunger.”

In keeping with the World Food Day 2003 commitment, the International Services Department of the Red Cross will join its partners in the fight against hunger and sponsor an international food aid exhibit that will include developmental food programming, agricultural recovery plans and emergency food aid. Additionally, World Food Day events in communities around the globe demonstrate the importance of banning together in a united front to defeat hunger worldwide.

“The ‘International Alliance against Hunger’ gives us a way to move forward together,” said Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO. “It will help us to reduce poverty and to guarantee the most basic of human rights - to be free from hunger.”

What You Can Do to Help

You can help support the Red Cross and its partners in the ongoing fight against hunger around the world. Donations to the International Response Fund can be mailed to your local Red Cross Chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013 or by visiting Online Donation page.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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