21/09/2001
Going Hungry is a Violation of Human Rights says UN Agency Head

With the world in turmoil following the recent terrorist outrages and with attention focused on the poverty and deprivation in Afghanistan, The head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that under-nourishment and starvation should not be considered less serious than blatant violations of other human rights.

"The state has the obligation, as an instance of last resort, to ensure that nobody should die of hunger," said Jacques Diouf, the FAO's Director-General.

Arguing that the World Food Summit had not only reaffirmed the right to adequate food,
but had also explicitly recognised the crucial link between food security and democracy, Dr Diouf called upon the international community to assist those states that did not have the means to ensure minimum access to food for all their people. "It is well known that in the presence of hunger, the ability to exercise other human rights is severely hampered," he said.

According to FAO, there is enough wealth in the world to ensure a minimum standard of living for everyone and the international community should devote its joint efforts to enable the poor to enjoy a free and dignified life. "Failure to address the silent under-nourishment of millions of children and adults in peacetime should also be regarded as a violation of the right to food," he said.

Dr. Diouf warned that the scandal of hunger merited more outrage than it was getting - not only on moral grounds, but because it was a human rights violation on a massive scale