U.N.: Hunger Kills 18,000 Kids Each Day
Pastor Dale Morgan
Feb 17, 7:43 AM EST
*
U.N.: Hunger Kills 18,000 Kids Each Day*
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Some 18,000 children die every day because of
hunger and malnutrition and 850 million people go to bed every night
with empty stomachs, a "terrible indictment of the world in 2007," the
head of the U.N. food agency said.
James Morris called for students and young people, faith-based groups,
the business community and governments to join forces in a global
movement to alleviate and eliminate hunger - especially among children.
"The little girl in Malawi who's fed, and goes to school: 50 percent
less likely to be HIV-positive, 50 percent less likely to give birth to
a low birth weight baby," he said in an interview Friday. "Everything
about her life changes for the better and it's the most important,
significant, humanitarian, political, or economic investment the world
can make in its future."
Morris, an American businessman and former president the
Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, one of the largest charitable
organizations in the U.S., is stepping down as executive director of the
Rome-based World Food Program in April after five years of leading the
world's largest humanitarian organization.
He said that while the percentage of people who are hungry and
malnourished has decreased from a fifth of the world's population to a
sixth of the population, the actual number of hungry people is growing
by about 5 million people a year because of the rising population.
"Today 850 million people are hungry and malnourished. Over half of them
are children. 18,000 children die every single day because of hunger and
malnutrition," Morris said. "This is a shameful fact - a terrible
indictment of the world in 2007, and it's an issue that needs to be solved."
Morris said the largest number of malnourished children are in India -
more than 100 million - followed by nearly 40 million in China.
"I'm very optimistic that India and China are very focused on this
issue," he said. "They're making great progress - (but) need to do more.
(It) needs to be a top priority."
Elsewhere, there are probably 100 million hungry children in the rest of
Asia, another 100 million in Africa where countries have fewer resources
to help, and 30 million in Latin America, he said.
As Morris prepares to leave his post, he said the two issues of greatest
concern are the increasing number of impoverished people and the "very
significant, growing number of natural disasters around the world."
According to the World Bank, natural disasters have increased fourfold
over the last 30 years, he said. That means several billion people need
instant help over the course of a decade because of disasters such as
the tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake, or drought in southern Africa.
The response to these disasters and conflicts such as in Sudan's Darfur
region and Lebanon has meant that most development aid has been used to
save lives - not to help communities prevent disasters and promote
development through agricultural programs, education for children and
water conservation, Morris said.
The agency's biggest operation today is in Darfur, where violence and
security are major problems and 2.5 million people have fled their homes
and now live in camps.
"Our convoys are attacked almost daily. We had a truck driver killed
there at the end of last year. Our convoys coming through Chad from
Libya are always at risk. When the African Union troops were there, that
was very helpful. The U.N. troops will be even more helpful," Morris said.
He was referring to a plan for an AU-U.N. force to be deployed in
Darfur, which is awaiting approval from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
American diplomat Josette Sheeran will replace Morris, who plans to head
home to Indianapolis.
"I will work as hard as I can every day of the rest of my life to see
that more resources are available to feed hungry children," Morris said.