|
|
 13 May 2009 | 09-0380 |
UN's Ban Ki-moon urged to step up to the plate on right to food
Peter Kenny
Geneva (ENI). A group of Christian leaders who campaign for justice in the fight against hunger are calling on the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to step up to the plate and seek tangible results in realising the right to food.
The Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance sent the letter to Ban as the first of a series of actions in a global campaign on food. It was launched on the same day the World Council of Churches and its donors discussed the food issue after being addressed by EAA members.
"Churches have always helped people in need of food, but now we want to tackle the root causes of hunger as a structural problem," the Rev. Malcolm Damon, chairperson of the EAA's Food Strategy Group, told Ecumenical News International on 13 May.
Damon, who is executive director of an economic justice network in Southern Africa, said, "The economic crisis and the climate crisis alone will lead to even more hunger problems, so we need to engage actively with the systems, policies and practices that are at the heart of the problem."
Citing statistics put out by international organizations, the EAA said that nearly one billion people are facing chronic hunger "in a world that currently produces enough nutritious food to feed everyone".
Damon, a South African theologian added, "The production, distribution and access to culturally appropriate nourishment is a fundamental matter of justice and we want people all over the world through their churches to advocate for just food production systems and trade distribution systems."
The letter to the UN secretary-general applauds his recent call to include the Right to Food as a third pillar in the Comprehensive Framework for Action at the High Level Meeting on Food Security for All in Madrid. The EAA letter, however, urges him to go further by taking "practical and tangible action".
The four-year EAA campaign will also mobilise people all over the world through Christian organizations to advocate for just and sustainable consumption. This will be done with the realisation that the right to food for all means people having access to nutritious food, without sacrificing other fundamental rights such as housing, education or health.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Food, Olivier De Schutter, has welcomed the EAA campaign and noted, "Producing more food will not reduce hunger if we neglect to think about the political economy of the food systems and if we do not produce and consume in ways which are both more equitable and more sustainable."
De Schutter added, "Nor will increased production suffice if we do not ground our policies on the right to food,-- as a means to ensure adequate targeting, monitoring and accountability."
• The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is an international network of more than 50 churches and Christian organizations committed to joint action on critical global issues. Its members include, the Lutheran World Federation, World Alliance of YMCAs, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Tearfund, Catholic Relief Services, Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa, World Vision International, Norwegian Church Aid, the World YWCA, and Churches Health Association of Zambia.
• Links: EAA: www.e-alliance.ch/
Full text of the letter to UN Secretary General and signatures:
www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/food/unsgsignonletter/
ENI featured articles are taken from the full ENI Daily News Service. Subscribe online to
the Daily News Service and receive around 1000 full-text articles a year. Unless otherwise stated, ENI featured articles may be re-printed, re-posted, re-produced or placed on Web sites if ENI is noted as the source and
there is a link to the ENI Web site www.eni.ch
© 1994 - 2010 Ecumenical News International.
Ecumenical News International, PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22 791 6111 Fax: +41-22 788 7244
Email: eni@eni.ch
|
|
