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‘Every five seconds a child below 10 dies’, Jean Ziegler:
World Food Day on 16 October was marked by a forthright statement from Jean Ziegler, United Nations [UN] special rapporteur on the right to food.
“Today,” Ziegler said, “I am unable to report a reduction in the number of persons suffering from violations of the right to food. On the contrary, despite real advances realised in different countries, the number of people suffering from hunger has increased every year since 1996.
“This number has now reached an estimated 854 million people, despite government commitments at the 2002 World Food Summit and at the 2000 Millennium Summit to eradicate hunger. Every five seconds a child below 10 dies from hunger and malnutrition–related diseases.”
The move to increase the conversion of food, such as maize, wheat, sugar and palm oil into fuels is particularly seen as a recipe for disaster creating competition between food and fuel.
The rapporteur identified many other factors which can contribute to the overall problem and believes that one of the major obstacles is “a lack of coherence within the international community” evidenced by the conflict between actual developments and some of the practices at major institutions, such as the World Bank and the IMF.
Ziegler cited the case of Niger where “draconian” adjustment policies have increased agricultural production costs, making the farmers poorer than ever.
For a full report on the statement, visit the UN website at: www.unhchr.ch.
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