Report of Ireland's Hunger Envoy presented to Government
Report of Ireland's Hunger Envoy presented to Government
Ireland’s Special Envoy for Hunger, Mr Kevin Farrell, today presented a report on Ireland’s progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hunger Task Force to Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power.
The Hunger Envoy’s Report provides an outline of the key elements of Ireland’s response to the global hunger crisis. It identifies further actions to strengthen Ireland’s role in tackling hunger.
Mr Farrell has praised Ireland’s political leadership on hunger over the past two years.
Welcoming the report at the launch in Government Buildings today, Minister Power said:
“This report comes at a critical juncture in our battle against the scourge of world hunger. Mr Farrell acknowledges the enormous work that has been done by the Government, NGOs and the international community. He points to the progress we have made. But he also underscores the many challenges that remain.
Today, more than 925 million people are under-nourished and as many as 10,000 children die every day as a consequence. We are absolutely determined to reverse this terrible toll and the Hunger Envoy Report will help to guide our efforts. I look forward to studying it in great detail.”
The report sets out the severity of the current global hunger crisis; assesses how the three key recommendations of the Government’s Hunger Task Force have been implemented since its launch in 2008 and provides recommendations to further strengthen Ireland’s response.
Minister Power, who appointed Mr Farrell in 2009 on foot of a recommendation by the Hunger Task Force, said:
“Hunger is a terrible consequence of our global failure to provide access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food for all. We need to urgently renew our efforts to develop new responses to this stubborn problem.
Ireland has taken a global leadership role in the fight against hunger. I have designated hunger a cornerstone of the Irish Aid programme and committed to spending 20% of our budget on hunger by 2012. We have already seen great progress as a result of these measures.
We have been working relentlessly as international advocates for the fight against hunger and undernutrition. We have argued that hunger needs to be at the heart of international development efforts. Put simply, if we do not eliminate hunger, then our work to reduce the number of women and children dying and our efforts to improve access to education and employment will be in vain.
As Mr Farrell’s report acknowledges, I and my Government colleagues have constantly called at EU level, in our meetings with fellow donors, partner Governments and at the UN, for hunger to be central to all our development efforts.
Ireland has also forged a strong partnership with the United States to tackle child under-nutrition. Last September Minister Micheál Martin and I co-hosted a very successful high-level event in New York with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to galvanise international action around this key issue. Globally, almost one-third of children under the age of five grow up chronically undernourished. The damage caused is irreversible.
Ireland is working hard to increase the productivity of small-holder farmers, particularly women, and to invest strongly in agricultural research which reaps enormous dividends when its benefits are rolled out to millions of farmers.
I would like to thank Kevin Farrell for the enthusiasm, experience and integrity he has brought to bear on his work over the past year. His report provides important guidance for the Government and NGOs in Ireland in our combined efforts to end the scandal of world hunger.”
The launch was also attended by David Nabarro, United Nations Special Representative on Food Security and Nutrition and Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute.
ENDS ++
2 November, 2010
