World Food Day 2007, October 2007
Heidelberg, 11/10/07 The Human Right to Food – Fighting Hunger with Human Rights
On the occasion of the World Food Day with the theme The Right to Food, FIAN calls on governments, media and the public to give priority to the struggle against the causes of hunger from a Human Rights perspective. FIAN and partner organisations are mobilising various initiatives and events in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK to raise awareness and strengthen the realisation of the right to food in the world.
At this crucial moment, on October 15, at the European Parliament in Brussels, FIAN will be officially launching a new international campaign on the Right to Food “Face It – Act Now!”. The Campaign Launch will be hosted by Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food; Luisa Morgantini, Vice-president of the European Parliament; and Flavio Valente, FIAN International Secretary General.
On October 16, FIAN will be represented by Flavio Valente at the Official Ceremony of World Food Day at FAO Headquarters in Rome, together with Jacques Diouf, FAO Director General, President of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and President of Germany, Horst Köhler.
“The Human Right to Food is the most important instrument people have to struggle against hunger. Governments must be held accountable under their obligations with the Right to Food”, states Flavio Valente, FIAN International Secretary General.
For further information on World Food Day Activities, please contact Martin Wolpold-Bosien: wolpold@fian.org;
For any request on concerning the Press Conference in Brussels, please contact Marco Appel appelmarco@yahoo.fr
“The right to food calls for a shift in paradigm from charity to rights. Ensuring that every human being has an adequate and stable supply of food is more than a moral imperative or an investment with potentially huge economic returns: it is the realization of a basic human right. And the world has the means to realize that right” (From the statement of Jacques Diouf, FAO Director General to World Food Day 2007).