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Each year, Hunger takes the lives of approximately 7
million of our children.
19,000 every day - 800 every hour
- 13 every minute
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Yet, right now, today, humanity possesses the resources,
technology and the know-how to end the persistence of Hunger. What we lack,
experts tell us, is the public will, the commitment to get the job done.
A key element in generating that commitment is making
available to people current, accurate, accessible information about hunger
and what is being done to end it.
Only with the facts can we hope to take focused,
effective, educated action.
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In 500 B.C. an anonymous Chinese Poet said:
If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed.
If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree.
If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate the people.
By sowing seed once, you will harvest once.
By planting a tree, you will harvest tenfold.
By educating the people, you will harvest one hundredfold.
The U.S. presidential commission on World Hunger stated:
"whether one speaks of Human rights or basic human needs, the right to
food is the most basic of all. Unless that right is first fulfilled, the
protection of other human rights becomes a mockery".
What is hunger?
HUNGER is not appetite; it is a profound, debilitating, devastating,
intensively painful, human experience. It keeps us from working productively,
from thinking clearly, from resisting disease. Ultimately, if it goes on long
enough, it kills us.
What are the different types of hunger?
The Hunger that we read, see and hear about in places like Bangladesh and
Ethiopia is the 'Famine' variety of Hunger.
Famine has received greater attention from the news media
than the other types of Hunger, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.
Chronic Undernutrition, Malnutrition, Malabsorptive Hunger
and Seasonal Undernutrition account for over 90% of all hunger-related
deaths, whereas famine accounts for less than 10%.
Fact 1: Hunger exists - people are dying
Experts tell us that as many as 1 billion human beings - one out of five
on our planet - are under-nourished and go to bed hungry each night. Not each
month, not each week, but each day, 19,000 people die of hunger and
hunger-related diseases. That is 13 people every minute of every hour of
every day.
The worst earthquake in modern history killed 242,000
people in China in 1976. Hunger kills that many every 12 days.
 There are villages in India where 85% of the families have
experienced the loss of at least one child.
How do we measure hunger
We need to measure hunger in societies or countries so that we can see
where hunger persists and where it is ending.
The most accepted standard for determining the extent of
hunger throughout an entire country is the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR).
The IMR is the number of deaths of infants under one year
of age per 1,000 live births in a given year.
Where are they hungry?
If hunger were ended in just the following five countries,
we could eliminate nearly half of the world's hunger
- India
- Indonesia
- Bangladesh
- Pakistan
- Nigeria
If hunger were eliminated in India alone, that would end
as much as one-third of the world's hunger.
Fact 2: They don't have to - the end of hunger is
achievable
Not long ago, most people who studied the problem of hunger felt that it
could be alleviated, but not ended. Now, however, the world's expert
community is in widespread agreement is in widespread agreement that the
persistence of hunger can be ended by the turn of the century.
The independent Commission on International Development
Issues (popularly known as the Brandt Commission) stated, "Mankind has
never before had such ample technical and financial resources for coping with
hunger and poverty. The immense task can be tackled once the necessary
collective will be mobilized. What is necessary can be done, and must be
done."
There is plenty of food in the world. In past quarter
century, food production on the planet has doubled, mainly due to the Green revolution.
During this period, population has grown by 1.5 billion
people. Food production increased at the annual growth rate of 2.8%. Faster
than the 2.0% annual population growth.
There is more food available per person today than there
was 25 years ago.
The amount of grain produced in the world today could
provide each person on the planet with the equivalent of two loaves of bread
per day. Our current food production could feed 7 billion people ...
certainly enough food for us all.
Fact 3: You are the key to the end of hunger - you
make the difference
In recent years, a number of major changes have taken place in the world
that were initiated not by governments or powerful institutions, but rather
by people - individuals.
Among these are movements for environmental protection,
health and physical fitness, civil rights and women's rights. Individuals
were responsible for generating the profound changes that have taken place in
these areas. Such movements have been initiated and sustained primarily by
those who were the victims of the wrong they sought to right.
Children cannot start such a movement in their own
defense. Yet in the last year alone, the 7 million young children who have
died in the developing world, is the equivalent of the entire population
of Switzerland. And for every child who has died, another has been left
blind or deaf or crippled or retarded.
Could any cause be counted more worthy of a people's
movement?
You can play a vital role in this
global effort.
Courtesy: http://rehydrate.org/ Picture Courtesy:
India Today 2012
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