UNifeed: UN / FOOD CRISIS WRAP

UN / FOOD CRISIS WRAP

The Economic and Social Council holds food security related meetings with the participation of goodwill ambassadors Dionne Warwick and Carl Lewis. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that food aid to crisis areas should not be reduced due to budget constraints. UNTV

Duration:02:41Date:29 October 2009

Categories:

United Nations Television, FOOD AND NUTRITION, HUMANITARIAN AID AND RELIEF

Downloads:

Broadcast-quality video for UNifeed stories is available online for two weeks. Should you wish to request older material, please contact the agency source of the material. For UNTV or peacekeeping stories, please contact the UN Video Library.

Full Script

STORY: UN / FOOD CRISIS WRAP
TRT: 2.41
SOURCE: UNTV  
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 29 OCTOBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN building

29 OCTOBER, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, ECOSOC
3.	SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“Unfortunately aid to post conflict countries far too often tapers off prematurely, and just when countries are in a better position to use it more effectively. Sustainable peace is the most important goal for aid. It makes no sense to abandon post-conflict countries in times of budget constraints.”
4.	Wide shot, podium
5.	Tracking shot, Warwick and Lewis arrival
6.	Zoom in, performance by the Choir Academy of Harlem
7.	SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“The challenges of food security demand multilateral commitment, creativity and leadership. At this time of crisis, I encourage all nations to pursue coordinated and comprehensive strategies for agricultural development and effective social protection. Vulnerable people, women and children in particular, must get the food they need for nutritional security and well being.”
8.	Wide shot, podium
9.	SOUNDBITE (English) Dionne Warwick, FAO Goodwill Ambassador:
“The events of the last three years have been particularly tragic, as they have demonstrated how fragile our global food system is and how vulnerable we all are. For the first time in history more than one billion people are undernourished worldwide. This is about one-hundred million more than last year and it means that one in every six persons suffers from hunger everyday.”
10.	Wide shot, podium
11.	SOUNDBITE (English) Carl Lewis, FAO Goodwill Ambassador:
“While humanity has made incredible leaps and bounds in science and technology, many more do not enjoy the same access to very bare necessities in life. At present a hungry-free world is still just a dream. It’s all up to us, the international community as a whole to take decisive action and to end hunger and malnutrition, the most cruel expression of poverty which now affects more than one billion people, more than two hundred million of which are children.”
12.	Various shots, performance by the Choir Academy of Harlem

STORYLINE:

On the Occasion of World Food Day 2009 the ECOSOC Chamber hosted two events today (29 October) related to food aid and food security.

The morning meeting, organized by the World Food Programme (WFP) centered on the issue of “Food and economic crises in post-conflict countries”.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the meeting and pointed out that aid to post-conflict countries “far too often tapers off prematurely” and said that “it makes no sense” to abandon these countries due to budget constraints when they are “in a better position” to use aid more effectively.

The flow of food aid is at its lowest level in twenty years, while the number of hungry people is growing, due to the combined impact of high food prices, the global financial crisis and increasingly severe weather patterns.

This year, WFP set out to feed 108 million people in 74 countries around the world, but a severe budget shortfall has prompted a reduction of rations to hungry people in some countries, and program suspensions in others.  So far, donors have contributed some US$2.9 billion towards WFP’s 2009 budget of US$6.7 billion.

In the afternoon, a special ceremony themed “Achieving food security in times of crisis” was held hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with the participation of Goodwill Ambassadors Dionne Warwick and Carl Lewis as well as a performance by the Choir Academy of Harlem.

The Secretary-General said that the challenges of food security “demand multilateral commitment, creativity and leadership” and encouraged nations “to pursue coordinated and comprehensive strategies for agricultural development and effective social protection” at a time of crisis. He added that vulnerable people “must get the food they need for nutritional security and well being”.

The global food crisis is stalking the small-scale farms and rural areas of the world, where 70 percent of the world's hungry live and work. With an estimated increase of 105 million hungry people in 2009, there are now 1.02 billion malnourished people in the world, meaning that almost one sixth of all humanity is suffering from hunger.

Warwick, a Grammy award winning singer and activist, said that the global economic and food crisis “have been particularly tragic, as they have demonstrated how fragile our global food system is and how vulnerable we all are”. She noted an increase of one hundred million more undernourished people in the last year.

Lewis, an Olympic gold winning athlete said that “at present, a hungry-free world is still just a dream” and called on the internationally community “to take decisive action and to end hunger and malnutrition”, which he called “the most cruel expression of poverty.”

FAO has proposed a World Summit on Food Security for November 2009.

Breadcrumb Trail

UN / FOOD CRISIS WRAP

UNifeed Archive

UNifeed Outlook

About

Connect to Unifeed

Connect to UNTV

Other UNTV Products