Kick Off Event - Why We Will Continue to Do It!
GLOBAL HUNGER 1.02 billion people do not have enough to eat - more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union (Source:FAO news release, 19 June 2009) The number of undernourished people in the world increased by 75 million in 2007 and 40 million in 2008, largely due to higher food prices (Source: FAO news release, 9 Dec 2008) More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2006)
CHILD HUNGER Every six seconds a child dies because of hunger and related causes (Source: State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2004) 10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths (Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
MALNUTRITION It is estimated that 684,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to vitamin A and zinc (Source: WFP Annual Report 2007) Undernutrition contributes to 53 percent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries. This means that one child dies every six seconds from malnutrition and related causes(Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)Iron deficiency is impairing the mental development of 40-60 percent of the children in developing countries(Source: Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, p2, UNICEF)
According to the most conservative United Nations statistics, over 16,000 children die every day due to hunger-related diseases before they reach five years of age (Source: Human Rights Council. "Resolution 7/14. The right to food". United Nations, March 27, 2008, p. 3), but this number could be as great as 40,000 people if you include those aged five and older. Statistics vary between the United Nations World Food Programme and UNICEF, but the fact remains: even one child is one too many!
